This is a slight Middle Eastern take on a favourite pudding. Lashings of sweetened cream flavoured with a dash of rose water, loaded onto a huge sticky meringue round, filled with fresh halved strawberries, topped with crushed pistachios and fragrant rose petals it's like summer on a plate.
- Line a baking sheet and pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
- Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form, then slowly add the sugar, rose water, vinegar, corn flour and whisk again until the mix becomes very thick and shiny.
- Gently fold in half of the pistachios then carefully spoon the mixture onto the lined baking sheet, forming a circle and working the mixture outwards to form an edge and leaving a slight dip in the centre.
- Drop the oven temperature to 150˚C and bake for 1 hour, then turn off the oven, leaving the meringue in there to cool. If you have time, make the meringue the night before, and leave it in the cooling oven overnight. The parchment should pull away easily now and you can place the meringue on a plate.
- Whip the cream adding in the icing sugar and spread generously over the cooled meringue. Scatter the strawberries over the top, arrange the whole strawberries in the centre, sprinkle with the rest of the pistachios and finally scatter with the rose petals and serve.
