Coffee Cream Meringue

Ingredients

• 1.3 egg whites, room temperature
• 2.salt, good pinch
• 3.0.5 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 4.5 millilitre vanilla extract
• 5.250 millilitre castor sugar
• 6.180 gram instant vanilla pudding mix, 2 x 90g packets
• 7.15 millilitre instant coffee powder
• 8.750 millilitre milk
• 9.375 millilitre cream, whipped
• 10.3 millilitre vanilla essence, optional; added to cream
• 11.chocolate, formed into curls for decoration

Method

1. 1.SHELL: Whip egg whites until foamy. Add salt, cream of tartar and vanilla. Continue until soft peaks form.
2. 2.Add the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, whipping well after each addition. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
3. 3.Draw a 9" (22.5 cm) circle on a heavy piece of brown paper or tinfoil, placed on a cookie sheet.
4. 4.Spoon the meringue into the circle. Push meringue from centre to edge of circle so centre is 1" (2.5 cm) thick and rim is 2" (5 cm) high.
5. 5.Bake shell 1 hour in a pre-heated 250°F (120°C) oven.
6. 6.Turn off heat, open door and leave shell in oven for 1 hour to cool.
7. 7.FILLING: Combine the pudding mix and the coffee powder. Add a little of the milk and stir till smooth. Add the remaining milk. Cook and stir over moderate heat until mixture boils. Cover and chill thoroughly.
8. 8.Add vanilla to cream if desired and whip. Reserve ½ cup of the cream.
9. 9.Beat the chilled pudding with a rotary beater till smooth. Gently fold pudding into the cooled meringue shell.
10. 10.Pile filling into the cooled meringue shell. Decorate with the reserved cream and chocolate curls.
11. 11.Chill until ready to serve.

Notes

• Card spells 'coffe' (sic) for coffee — transcribed as written in notes field.
• The meringue shell is baked at a very low temperature and cooled slowly in the oven to prevent cracking.