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Congratulations.
You just scrolled through 1.6 metres / 5.2 feet of melt-in-your-mouth crispy, light meringue, topped with whipped cream and piles of seasonal fruit, and didn’t break your screen reaching in to grab some!
Want to know how it’s made? Simple. Here’s the secret of the Never Ending Meringue:
4 tart shells – 2 ends and 2 middle pieces – baked on 2 trays. Then just glue them together with a dab of cream.
Yep, it’s as easy as that. 🙂
I promised this is easy, and in all honesty, I truly believe this to be easier to make than the Great Aussie Pav. The reason being that the Pav has height, and therefore is more delicate and has risk of collapsing during or after baking it. Also because of the marshmallow inside which sweats in hot summer weather, making the delicate dry meringue shell more fragile.
If you are determined to make a Pav in the height of summer, please please please follow my Pav recipe exactly as written. There’s nothing tricky about it, but there are very specific steps and reasons why I do things the way I do and to make a Pav in hot humid weather that comes out near perfectly crackless and is strong enough to sustain mounds of toppings.
But if you’re after a show stopper dessert that feeds loads of people that is easier to make and can be made 3+ days in advance, try this NEVER ENDING MERINGUE TART!!!
10 11 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE THE NEVER ENDING MERINGUE TART
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It looks fabulous
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But it’s not that hard to make – doesn’t matter if you make a mess of the meringue, it’s mostly covered up with toppings!
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It tastes indulgent but fresh and isn’t heavy (because meringue is mostly air!), and is far lower in calories than a slice of cake
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The risk factor is lower than Pav
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The tart shell can be made 3 – 5+ days in advance
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It’s cost effective: 5 to 6 egg whites makes 4 tart shells, each of which are cut into 4 generous slices or 5 normal slices = 16 to 20 servings.
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It can be made as long as you want!
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Feeds a crowd – compared to a large round cake which will typically serve 12
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Many topping options – cream, yoghurt, seasonal fresh fruit, canned fruit, stewed fruits.
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This will be remembered for years to come – YOUR dessert spectacular will be the talk of the town
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You watched the video and saw how I did the meringue test, and now you can’t resist making it. 😉
This is not my invention. The idea for this recipe came from the great Mary Berry, her Meringue Tranche which she made in one of her cooking shows. I just love Mary Berry. One of Britain’s most beloved cooking icons, she’s what Maggie Beer is to Aussies and Ina Garten to Americans.
I’ve adapted it to my own, making mine longer and skinnier and also reducing the cook time to keep my meringue a lovely pure white.
Make the Never Ending Meringue Tart as long as you want by making multiple batches of the middle sections. The only restriction you have is finding a surface area long enough to assemble it!!! I made this for a Christmas Party I catered for my mother last weekend. Here it is with 5 pieces, 2 metres / 6.5 feet long. I had a couple of extra pieces that wouldn’t fit on the table which I just assembled separately.
One of the things I really love about the Never Ending Meringue Tart is that it’s not too rich. Yes, meringue is sweet, but it’s light as air. Each serving you see below has about 4 tbsp of whipped cream (~1.5 tbsp of un-whipped), plus the fruit. It looks like a generous serving but it doesn’t feel heavy, meaning you (eer, I mean, your family and friends) can still indulge in dessert even after a big meal and not feel too weighed down from a super rich dessert.
But let’s be honest here. I can talk to you about all the practical pros of this Never Ending Meringue Tart. But really, it’s all about you. And how you’ll be the talk of the town for years to come, about your famous Never Ending Tart.
Shhhhh! Don’t tell anyone how easy it actually is to make!!! – Nagi xx
PS Don’t stress about cracks, piped blobs being deformed and sticking in all directions (like mine!), and how messy your meringue looks. Once the topping’s on, no one notices a anything except how amazing the whole thing looks!
PPS Update: The Christmas Trifle that was scheduled for today has now been published – here it is! The Christmas Trifle I promised for today is still coming! I promise, I just ran out of time to do both today and there was so much demand for this one. If anyone really urgently needs the Trifle before Monday evening, here’s the recipe. Full post with steps and recipe video is coming on Monday!
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Never Ending Meringue Tranche (1.6 metres / 5.2 ft)
Ingredients
Meringue:
- 180 ml / 6 oz egg whites , 5 to 6 eggs (Note 1)
- 300 g / 10 oz caster sugar (superfine sugar)
Toppings:
- 600 ml / 20 oz heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 2 large mangoes
- 500 g / 1 lb strawberries (2 punnets)
- 450 g / 15 oz raspberries and blueberries (mix and match, 3 Aus punnets in total together)
Optional:
- Icing sugar / powdered sugar , for dusting (optional)
- Chopped fresh mint
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat oven to 120C/250F (standard) or 100C/210F (fan/convection).
- Mark 2 rectangles 11 x 40 cm / 4.5 x 15" on a sheet of baking paper using pencil, with 2.5cm / 1" between each outline. Repeat with another sheet of paper (so 4 outlines).
- Find 2 baking trays large enough so the outline fits on the tray surface when the tray is turned upside down (rim gets in way of piping).
- Fit a large piping bag with a 11mm / 0.5" round nozzle. (Ziplock: Note 2)
Meringue:
- Separate the egg whites while the eggs are fridge cold.
- Place whites in a large clean, dry bowl. Whip until it all turns into foam and there's no liquid whites left (1 minute on speed 8 with KitchenAide).
- With the beater still going, add the sugar one heaped tablespoon at a time - about 1 minute.
- After the sugar is added, crank the beater up to speed 10 and whip for 1 minute. Fluff should be glossy and when you rub between fingers, there should be barely any sugar grit - a bit is ok.
Tart (video is helpful):
- Spoon half the meringue into piping bag (Note 3).
- Dab small amount on the corner of an upside down baking tray. Place paper on tray pencil marking side down.
- Pipe filling inside the lines - don't worry if there are gaps (loads in my video). Use dessert spoon to smooth surface - the base should be about 1/2 cm thick (rises to ~7 mm cooked).
- Pipe blobs along one short end (to make tart ends) and all along both long sides. Do this to both on Tray 1. Place in oven.
- Repeat with remaining meringues on Tray 2, but do not pipe blobs along the short end (these will be the middle pieces). Place in oven on shelf just below Tray 1.
- Use any remaining meringue to make extra small blobs (good for repairs / decoration / nibbling). Place this tray on the floor of oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes, then swap the two trays (tray with blobs not a priority, leave it!).
- Bake for further 30 minutes, then turn off the oven, keep door closed and leave to cool (can keep in oven even for days). Meringue should be dry and crisp, able to lift off paper.
Assembling:
- Place cream, vanilla and sugar in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form.
- Trim joining ends of meringues with knife so they are straight.
- Dab cream on cut end and join meringues. Assemble where you plan to serve.
- Spread over cream, top with fruit, dust with sugar. Serve immediately, and puff up with pride when lavished with compliments!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
Meringue test!! I take back all those times I said he contributes nothing in the kitchen. I trust my meringue beating skills but still wasn’t going to risk it – just had my hair done! 🤣
I made this but ran out of meringue before I’d finished piping the edges. Made some more to finish. The lengths were really thin though and broke. Ended up serving it as deconstructed Pav and along wooden serving platter. Went down a treat. I want to make it again but I’m concerned if I ran out of meringue making the lengths thin what will happen I make them thicker? I do live in Queensland and it was really hot yesterday and overnight which I’m sure messed things up a little.
I made this for Christmas. It was easy to make and very impressive on the table. It was completely devoured as everyone loved it. Will definitely make again. Thanks Nagi!
I made a half batch for our small gathering this Christmas. Absolutely fantastic and much less stress than a pav. Thanks Nagi!
I always make a Pav for Christmas now instead of Chris. Pud. I never mind what it turns out looking like, just pile base with fruit yogurt, a layer of cream, fresh Mango, Strawberry and top the whole lot with homegrown passionfruit pulp. If the pav is cracked or broken, all the toppings hide it and there is never anything left on the plate!
I made this for a group of friends and it was SO good. Easy and super impressive. I made it wider so it fitted perfectly on my long platter. Thank you
I just came across this recipe; thank you. My question is, since I am on the Keto way of eating, will this work using powdered monk fruit instead of sugar?
I tried this and my merengue stuck to the baking paper and was too soft to pull off. What did I do wrong?
Hi Nagi! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I felt like a super pro baker when I served it on my daughter’s birthday last week. I love your blog! And I got so excited to know that you are in Sydney! We are moving there in January from NZ! Exciting times! Can’t wait to try your other recipes! Keep up the fab work!
This was an awesome dessert for our annual dinner party – so easy but so impressive! It’s a private event so no insta photos to tag at this stage . But thanks so much for the idea and recipe. It was perfect!
I did by weight and added 1/4 ingredients to make 2 x 1m long ones (2 different xmas events) but I was only able to make one even with 225g eggs (8 large eggs)!! I just did it again with another batch to make two – and my piping nozzles were small so not sure what happened there but so far it’s looking great!
Hi Nagi,
Do you whisk the egg whites when still cold, or at room temp?
Thank you
Hi Peta, I use fridge cold eggs here 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, How long do you think in advance to Christmas I could make this and any tip on storing it? Sam
Hi Sam, check the recipe notes for all my tips on making ahead and storage 🙂 N x
Hi! Can you replace Caster sugar with confectioners sugar? Thank you for this beautiful recipe
Size of piping tube says 11mm/ 4.5”.
This cant be right, 4.5” is way to big, 11mm is about 1/2”
I used what i had which was 20mm, a bit big, will change to smaller one net time.
Thanks for picking that up Kelly, it should be 1/2″ – N x
I love all your recipes. I bought your cook book at the start of the year and make a different recipe each week so I can be a better cook in 2023. This is the best cook book ever and with the videos too. I have your pork and fennel sausage rolls cooking as I type this. Im practising on your big pav for Christmas. Thankyou Nagi 😘
Im a big fan of yours Nagi, tried lots of recipes and love them all. Its my 70 th birthday and i made the pavlova tranche for family lunch tomorrow. Cant wait to try it, thanks again, Jennifer
This looks fabulous! Do you think you could use your custard recipe to top this?
Thank you, Linda A
Yes 100% Linda!! N x
This looks amazing and I am planning on doing tomorrow for friends. Had a practice run and my meringue turned out quite brown inside (outside looked fine). Did I cook too long? Should O reduce the temp?
This is an amazing looking dessert. Have made it three times now and the cameras have come out each time. Looks so impressive yet so easy and foolproof to make.
Used a spare bookshelf we had covered in alfoil.
Thank you so much Nagi for sharing this.
That’s a great idea Kris!! N x
Do you think this would work ok if the rectangles were double in width (22cm wise instead of 11cm so that it would feed more people? Or would the rectangles be too brittle as larger slabs?
Hi Lisa, you could definitely make it wider and serve thinner slices if you prefer – N x
I gave this recipe a go for the Australia Day BBQ, so easy and looks so impressive. Thank you.
Had to transport a dessert, so made the meringue slabs to fit in my largest oblong container, stacked 3 high. Finished length 1.2 m, served on a piece of Tassie Oak from Bunnings. Worked a treat.
Perfect Sue!!
Loved this! Thank you so much for the idea and the directions, as well as the confidence to attempt it. This looks very impressive but was surprisingly easy. I added a lemon curd under the cream (gotta do something with all those yolks, am I right) which was a nice addition. Next time I want to work on getting sharper corners on the ends of my shells so they fit together more tightly. Happy holidays to you and your family!