Instructions: Put the egg whites in a large bowl and whisk until very stiff but not dry.

Whisk in the caster sugar until stiff and shiny.

Whisk in half of the brown sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is very stiff.

Carefully fold in the rest of the brown sugar using a large metal spoon.

Spoon or pipe about 12 to 16 meringues onto a baking sheet lined with nonstick baking parchment.

Bake on the floor of the simmering ovenfor 2 1/2 to 3 hours until thoroughly dried out gently pressing the base of the meringues halfway through cooking. Remove the meringues from the ovenand leave to cool on the parchment.

Carefully lift off when cool and store in an airtight container until required.

To make the raspberry sauce place the raspberries in a blender or food processor with the lemon juice and icing sugar to taste.

Work to a puree then pass through a sieve to remove any seeds.

Stir in the kirsch if using.

Cover and chill in the refrigerator.

Immerse the peaches in a bowl of boiling water for 20 seconds to loosen the skins. Lift out and plunge into cold water to stop further cooking.

Peel off the skins.

Halve the
peaches and remove the stones.

Slice neatly and sprinkle with 1 tbsp kirsch if using.

To serve whip the cream until it just holds soft peaks.

Spoon the cream onto half of the meringues.

Arrange the sliced peaches on top and sandwich together with the temaining meringues.

Place on individual serving plates and pour over the raspberry sauce.

Serve immediately.

The secret to making these meringues is to whisk the egg whites initially until very stiff and to whisk until stiff between each addition of sugar. Do not add the sugar too quickly or the meringue will become thin. If the meringues are not quite dried out after 3 hours place them on a cloth on the lid of the simmering plate or on the WARMING plate (of a 4 ovenaga) until dry. Generous clouds of meringue are filled with whipped cream and sliced peaches and served on a sharp ruby red sauce. Soft brown sugar adds a slight caramel flavour to the meringues and colours them a pretty pale beige. Use nectarines instead of peaches or strawberries if you prefer.

Serves 6

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