Tropical meringues
1. Pulse the macadamias and icing sugar together in a food processor until macadamias are reasonably finely ground (some texture is good though). Grinding the two together stops the macadamias from turning into a paste
2. Beat the eggs whites until almost stiff peaks, add the caster sugar and beat till stiff peaks and sugar is dissolved.
3. Using a metal spoon, fold through the macadamia & sugar mixture and the coconut.
4. On a paper-lined baking tray, spoon eight 8-10cm circles of meringue mixture and bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes until a pale, golden colour.
Leave till cool and then store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Lemon & passionfruit curd
1. Place the butter, sugar, lemon juice, zest and passionfruit pulp into a double boiler or bowl set over a pan of simmering water on a medium-low heat and stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved
2. In a bowl containing the lightly beaten eggs, carefully add a small amount of the passionfruit mixture to the eggs, stirring in quickly. Gradually add a bit more until a third to half of the mixture is added. This is tempering the eggs to bring them up to temperature without turning them into scrambled eggs. Add the egg mix to the rest of the passionfruit mixture in the double boiler and stir continuously over a low heat.
3. Cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
4. Remove from heat and put into a bowl in the fridge to cool for several hours, covering the curd with cling film touching the top of it so that a skin does not form on the top.
To assemble
1.Gently whip the cream to just past soft peaks. Fold through ¾ cup to 1 cup of the lemon & passionfruit curd (depending on taste). Break up the meringues into small pieces and add to the cream along with the berries. Fold all through and then spoon into six serving glasses. Top with a few extra berries and the remaining passionfruit pulp and leave 20 minutes before serving.
