How about a meringue kiss?

Meringue kisses are another perfect addition to your strawberry fest! You can cheat and buy tubs of ready-made meringue kisses. The quality of the ready-made varies, some are better than others, some are powdery and overly sweet, some not so but disintegrate as soon as you look at them – a slight exaggeration may be! It has to be said that the shop bought version has a much longer life than home-made.

If you want to have a go and make your own here's my basic meringue recipe :

4 fl oz egg whites – from large eggs

225g/8oz caster sugar

As is always my mantra, get yourself sorted before you start whisking.

Your oven should be pre-heated 90fan/110c/Gas ¼ – very cool/very slow.

Cut your parchment to size for two baking sheets measuring 30x30 cms.

You'll need a large, squeaky clean mixing bowl, a plain nozzle and a piping bag. If you want to be sure you've got a squeaky clean bowl then wipe it with a drop of lemon juice and let is dry before use.

Whisk your eggs whites until they are stiff – the old fashioned way of testing whether they are stiff enough is to tip the bowl upside down over your head – if the mixture doesn't move it's ready! Add half the caster sugar and whisk again until stiff. Fold in the remaining sugar. Your mixture is now ready for the piping bag.

The great thing about disposable piping bags is that you can cut them to size. The end of the bag is snipped to fit your nozzle. Fold the bag over your hand – it enables you to have a steady hold on your bag. Spoon the mixture into the bag until two thirds full and gently ease the mixture towards the nozzle expelling any air. Twist the top of the bag and hold and then use your other hand to steady the nozzle end.

Place a tiny blob of mixture in each corner of your baking trays and “glue” your parchment to the tray.

Holding the nozzle approximately 4cms above the tray squeeze the bag gently and then tilt the bag away in an upward direction so that you create a little kiss curl – hence “kisses”!

Bake for 45 minutes.

Peel the kisses gently from the parchment.

This recipe will give you approximately 40 kisses. You can store them in strong ziploc type bags or in tins lined with parchment with well fitting lids. Store in a cool, dry place – NOT in the fridge and they'll keep for 2 weeks – if they last that long!

Here are some helpful photos ...