Serves 4
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

250 g (9 oz) mascarpone cheese
150 ml (5 fl oz) single cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
250 g (9 oz) strawberries, hulled
4 ready-made meringue nests
75 g (3 oz) caster sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped toasted hazelnuts

Beat together the mascarpone cheese, cream and icing sugar until smooth. Reserve four of the strawberries and chop the remainder. Stir the chopped strawberries into the cream mixture and use to fill the meringue baskets. Slice the reserved strawberries and stick the slices into the cream. Place each in the centre of a serving plate.

Gently heat the caster sugar and lemon juice in a heavy-based pan, set over a very low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and allow the mixture to bubble for about 4 minutes until golden – as the mixture cooks, don’t stir, but swirl the pan occasionally so it doesn’t burn around the edges.

Remove from the heat and add the chopped hazelnuts and a tablespoon of water. Swirl to combine, then immediately pour over the meringue nests and serve.

All recipes taken form ‘Meals in Minutes’ published by BBC Books