Marinated cherry napoleon

by Ed Halmagyi

Ingredients

  • 4 x 10cm meringues
  • 300g cherries, pitted and halved
  • ½ cup marsala wine
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • zest 1 orange
  • 1 cinnamon quill
  • 4 tbsp vanilla icecream
  • 2 sprigs mint leaves
  • 2 tbsp sliced almonds, toasted

Instructions

1 Warm the marsala, vinegar, sugar, orange and cinnamon to a low simmer then turn the heat off.
2 Add the cherries and marinade overnight.
3 Drain the cherries and boil the liquid until it forms a syrup.
4 Halve the meringues and fill with a spoon of icecream and some cherries, then garnish with some extra cherries, mint leaves, almonds and the syrup.

PROFESSIONAL TIP: For a unique take on Christmas tipple this year, marinade 150g of halved cherries in a bottle of vanilla vodka for 2 weeks, then add 15ml and a sugar cube to your celebratory champagne. It’s the cocktail off the festive season.