A sponsored collaboration with Kitchen Warehouse

Easter is a only month away, and I know it feels like we’ve just survived the Xmas period and there may be cries of ‘too soon’ - but this is sure to create a little Easter baking enthusiasm.
This is such a fun Easter treat to make, and bound to make everybody happy at the sight of all those cute little meringue chicks, each with their own little personalities. It worked with my kids !
The nests are filled with a delicious contrast of lemon mascarpone cream, fresh passionfruit and a little coconut ‘straw’ , with mini eggs to complete the theme.
I love how the chicks are perched on their nests, piled on a wooden stand like tiers of a nesting box.
All the equipment you need can be found at https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/ including piping tips and bags and this gorgeous mango wood stand by Salisbury and co.

Makes 16 nests plus extra chicks

Ingredients:

For the meringue nests:

6 egg whites
300g white caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
white vinegar

For the chicks:

3 egg whites
150g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
white vinegar (or lemon juice)
lemon yellow gel food colouring (Americolor)
orange or peach gel food colouring (Americolor)
super black gel food colouring (Americolor)

(Americolour or an alternate brand of gel food colouring will work well)

Lemon Mascarpone cream:

400g mascarpone
300ml thickened cream
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
50g raw caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Passionfruit filling:

Pulp of 6 fresh passionfruits (about 200g)
40g sugar
2 teaspoons tapioca flour
2 tablespoons water

Additional ingredients:

100g white couverture chocolate callets (or a block broken into pieces)
1 cup shredded coconut
mini chocolate sugar eggs (I used Cadbury branded mini eggs)

Equipment

For the meringue nests and chicks:

Large open star piping tip (Wilton Open Star 1M or equivalent) - for the meringue nests
8cm round cutter (or template)
Large round tip for the chick heads and bodies, and for piping cream (Wilton #2A or equivalent)
Open star tip for the wings and tails (Wilton #21 or equivalent)
Small round tip for beaks and feet (Wilton #2 or equivalent)
Smaller round tip for eyes (Wilton #1 or equivalent)
Three small and one large piping bag.
(I used the Wilton featherweight 12 inch decorating bag and Mondo professional ultra flex plus small Loyal disposable bags for the black and orange/peach meringue colours)
2 large baking trays
baking paper

Instructions

For the meringue nests:

Preheat the oven with two racks to 90-95 degrees Celsius (fan forced)
Clean the large bowl of and stand mixer and whisk attachment. Make sure these are completely dry and wipe over them with vinegar. If you can, use a metal bowl (or glass) rather than plastic.
Cut two pieces of baking paper to fit two large oven trays.
Trace out 8cm circles using the cutter as a guide and a pencil.
Turn the paper upside down (so the pencil is not touching the meringue and place on the trays)
Using the whisk attachment and a medium-high setting, beat the eggs whites with the cream of tartar until they have become a soft foam.
With the mixer still running, gradually sprinkle in the sugar one tablespoon at a time until it is all used up.
Keep beating until you have a stiff foam and the sugar has completely dissolved.
Use a little meringue to secure the paper onto the trays, by putting a dab in each corner beneath the baking paper.
Fill the meringue into a large piping bag fitted with the large star nozzle.
Pipe individual nests by initially piping the base.
Start at the centre of the circle and spiral outward to the edge of the circle, then keep piping another one to two layers around the edge of the base to form the walls of the nest.
For a crisp nest: Bake at 90 deg C for 2 hours to 2 and a half hours until the meringue is dried and no longer sticky.
Turn the oven off and allow the nests to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar.
Store in an airtight container until ready to assemble.

For the meringue chicks

Preheat the oven to 90-95 degrees C - fan forced
Place the egg whites and sugar in a dry metal bowl. Heat over a double boiler until the mixture reaches 50 degrees Celsius, stirring while you warm the mixture. Be careful not to let the water boil and make sure the bowl sits above the water.
Wipe over the whisk attachment and large metal bowl of a stand mixture with vinegar and allow to dry.
Place the egg white mixture along with the cream of tartar in the bowl and whisk on medium-high until you have stiff glossy peaks.
Take off about 1/4 of the mixture and colour it with a small amount of peach or orange food gel.
Take off two tablespoons of meringue and colour it dark grey with the black food gel.
Colour the rest of the meringue pale yellow using a small amount of lemon yellow gel and mixing it in gently but thoroughly.
Fill a large piping bag fitted with the large round nozzle (2A) with 2/3 of the yellow meringue.
Fill a small piping bag fitted with the #21 star nozzle with the rest of the yellow meringue.
Fill a small piping bag fitted with the #2 nozzle with the peach meringue.
Fill the final small bag fitted with the #1 nozzle with the black meringue.
Line two trays with baking paper and secure to the tray with a small blob of meringue.
With the large round nozzle and yellow meringue pipe a round chick body, and a smaller head on top of the body, lifting the nozzle at the end to form a small peak.
Using the yellow meringue fitted with the open star nozzle, pipe small wings and a small tail on each of the bodies.
Using the peach meringue, pipe a small beak and two feet on the base of the body.
Finish by piping two chick eyes near the beak.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and make individual personalities and sizes.

Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours and allow to cool in the oven with the door open.

Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

For the lemon mascarpone cream

Mix together the mascarpone, juice, zest and sugar until combined.
Add the thickened cream and beat until you have soft peaks. Be careful not to overbeat the cream.
Chill until ready to use and fill into a large piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle.

For the passionfruit filling

Scoop out the passionfruit pulp into a bowl. Stir in the sugar to dissolve.
Mix the tapioca starch with the water to make a slurry.
Heat the passionfruit and sugar mixture in a small saucepan until just about to boil.
Remove from the heat and stir in half of the tapioca starch.
Return to the stove and bring to boil, stirring until thickened. If the mixture is too runny, add a little more starch until you have the consistency of runny custard.
Allow to cool, stirring from time to time to avoid a skin forming on the surface.

Chocolate

Microwave the chocolate in 15 second bursts until just melted, stirring between each burst.

To assemble the nests:

Spread 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate in the base of each meringue nest and allow it to set.

Pipe a perimeter of cream inside the nest and fill the middle with a teaspoon of the cooled passionfruit mixture.

Top with a rosette of cream, covering the passionfruit centre in the process.

Sprinkle the shredded coconut around the perimeter of the cream to resemble the straw of a nest.

Place one chick on the middle of the nest just prior to serving as well as a one or two small chocolate speckled eggs.