These Meringue Nests with Homemade Berry Jam marry together crunchy, sweet meringue, whipped cream, homemade jam and fresh fruit to make a delicious dessert!
Hi all, how are you? Good week? Mine has been super busy as normal haha, but today I have an amazing, easy to whip up dessert for you in the form of Meringue Nests with Homemade Berry Jam!
There’s not much better than homemade jam, today I’ve made a quick version so that these meringue nests come together even quicker. They’re perfect for family gatherings as you can make the jam ahead of time and then just assemble the meringues when you’re ready.
You can of course make your own meringue nests, but when it’s hot the last thing I want to do is turn the oven on, so I bought some. So much easier and cooler!
For the jam I used strawberries and raspberries, but you can use whatever berries are your favourites. I did add a little bit of cornflour so this jam is ready in 10 minutes.
There’s a fine line when using cornflour in jam, ordinarily I would use lots of sugar and pectin, but this jam only needs 3tbsp of sugar because it’s finally berry season and my berries were sweet!
If you add too much cornflour then you end up with rubbery, gloopy jam and nobody wants that! I added 2tsp and that was the perfect amount, it helped the mixture thicken, but it wasn’t rubbery.
To assemble these meringue nests, you need a few more fresh berries for garnish, some lemon zest (only if you want) and some squirty cream. See, told you this was an easy recipe. I’m all for cheats sometimes, if it means you can spend more time with your family, enjoying the sunshine then I say go for it!
The homemade jam is the star of the show here, so I don’t feel guilty using certain “cheat” elements.
When you eat a mouthful of these….oh my word. First the crunch of the meringue, then the marshmallowy, pillow soft centre, cream, flavour packed jam and fresh berries. I can’t tell you how delicious these are. The little bit of lemon zest if totally optional, but it adds a little extra flavour and lifts the berries.
Get ready for plenty of berry recipes because berry season is here and I am so excited to eat my own body weight in sweet berries!!
Meringue Nests with Homemade Berry Jam
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) fresh raspberries
- 1 cup (150g) sliced fresh strawberries
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 8 shop bought meringue nests, I got mine from Waitrose
- Squirty cream to fill the middle of the nests – about 1.5tbsp per nest
- Extra berries and lemon zest to garnish; I used 8 raspberries and 4 strawberries for garnish.
Instructions
- Place the raspberries, strawberries, sugar, cornflour, water and lemon juice into a medium sized saucepan over a medium-high heat. Stir until all the berries are coated in the sugar/cornflour.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat down to low-medium and cook, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn/stick to the pan. Cook for around 10-12 minutes until the mixture has reduced, is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
- Leave to cool for 20 minutes. To assemble, place the meringue nests on a flat plate and squirt around 1.5tbsp of cream into the centre of each nest.
- Spoon around 1tbsp of homemade jam on top of the cream, garnish with a raspberry and 2 slices of strawberry, then sprinkle with lemon zest.
- Meringue Nests are best eaten on the same day. You can make the jam ahead of time and store in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before serving. When you're ready, just assemble the nests and enjoy!
Annie is a self-taught baker, recipe developer and food photographer, who has an obsession with dessert and beauty! 
