Crushed Vacherin with Rhubarb and Strawberry compote and Chantilly cream served with Buds & Beads Ginger Rose Sparkling Tea

Sean Connolly’s crushed Vacherin is a permanent fixture at Karina’s “The Wild Flower” restaurant at Bells at Killcare. The gorgeous dessert trolley is set with beautiful bowls of meringue, compote, cream, berries and raspberry dust.

The Bell’s team roll the trolley to our guest’s table and with a touch of theatre they break the meringues & gently fold everything together serving piled high in glasses, with a sprinkle of raspberry dust.

What we love about this dish at home is that you can prepare everything in advance making for a stress free but delicious showstopper. Serve with Buds & Beads non-alcoholic Ginger Rose Sparkling Tea, to finish a perfect day with.

Ingredients

Serves: 8

Meringue
400g egg white from about 7 large eggs
800g caster sugar

Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote
250g rhubarb, cut into 5cm lengths
250g strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
65g / 1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Chantilly cream
250ml / 1 cup thickened cream
25g / 2 tbs caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
65g / 1/3 cup mascarpone

To assemble
250g strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
60ml / ¼ cup cognac
1 tbs freeze dried raspberry powder

Method

For the compote, place strawberries and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over a medium heat, squashing the strawberries with your wooden spoon as you stir for 5-6mins. Reduce heat to low and add rhubarb and cook a further 5mins. Add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Remove from heat, take rhubarb out of the compote. Strain the compote through a fine sieve reserving the liquid..

Preheat oven to 120C/100C fan forced. Line two baking trays with baking paper. For the meringue, using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time allowing a minute between each addition until meringue is thick and glossy and you can’t feel any sugar crystals in the mix. This will take roughly 10-12minutes.

Pipe the meringue onto the lined trays into 8 x 8cm diameter circles. Dollop 1 tbs of the compote onto the top of each meringue and using a skewer of a knife, swirl the compote into the top of the meringue. Place in the oven and cook for 90 minutes then allow to cool in oven with the door slightly ajar (use a wooden spoon wedged in the door) until the oven is cool. Approximately 3-4 hours or overnight.

For the Chantilly cream, whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold through the mascarpone.
To assemble, break the meringues up into a large bowl with the Chantilly cream, rhubarb and strawberries. Drizzle in cognac and remaining compote liquid and gently fold together to create a swirled mix. Serve piled high in glasses and dusted with freeze dried raspberry powder.