cherry berries on a cloud

[ethandron]

i've just made the merangue part of this, ready for friends coming round for dinner on saturday, and wondered if anyone else makes it and thinks it's totally delicious? i always make it on high days and holidays.

[lafrancaise]

What is it? Cherries on meringue? Sounds good. Any chance of the recipe, please?

[ethandron]

it's a 6 egg-white merangue (6 egg-whites, half a tsp. cream of tartar, quarter tsp. salt, 1 and three-quarter cups sugar), baked at 275oF for a hour, then left in the oven overnight to completely cool.
topped with 6oz softened cream cheese mixed with a cup sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla essence, 2 cups whipped cream and 2 cups minature marshmallows. refrigerate overnight.
top all that with a can of cherry pie filling mixed with 1 tsp. lemon juice and 2 cups fresh strawberries. i always add a cup of either frozen or fresh raspberries too.
because of overnight in the oven, and then overnight in the fridge, it seems to take forever. but worth every moment. it's our family's absolute favourite. i think it's an american recipe because of the cup measurements used. i just use a standard cup or small mug.
oh, and the merangue needs to be baked in a 13 x 9 x 2 dish.

[lafrancaise]

Wow! Must try that out. Thanks!!

[ethandron]

you're welcome. i'm just about to do the cream cheese/cream/marshmallow topping part. i couldn't get any miniature marshmallows so i've bought big ones and am going to cut 'em into bits.
i just remembered too, i always add more lemon juice than the recipe says, as i think it needs the tartness.

[lafrancaise]

Just a question; was is a cup size?

[masterchef]

38DD is a good one

[ethandron]

well, i'm a 38D actually, but i didn't use that for measuring the ingredients.
and what do you mean 'was is a cup size'? any old cup, so long as it's the same one for all the ingredients. not too big, not too small, just average.

[lafrancaise]

OK I should have asked, what is a cup size. Sorry! The reason I asked is because you've got ozs in there as well. So really sorry I asked!

[ethandron]

okey dokey, sorry for snapping. you can buy special cup measurements but i don't use them. i just use a cup or smallish mug from my cupboard. in this recipe i don't think it really matters how big or small the cup is, just so long as you use the same cup to measure out all the ingredients. i imagine if you were using the cup method for something which had to be more precise, then it would matter. i think the cream cheese is measured in oz because it would be difficult to measure it in a cup, being rather dense and sticky (maybe like me!).