Chocolate Meringue Gateau - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 egg whites
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup almonds, flaked
600 ml cream
3 teaspoons orange rind, finely grated
100 g dark chocolate
12 small chocolate eggs (easter eggs, if Easter)
1 small orange, scrubbed
2 cups water
1 cup caster sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 150\u00b0C or 130\u00b0C fan. Using a pencil, draw an 18cm circle on each of 3 pieces of non-stick baking paper. Spray 3 oven trays lightly with oil, and place paper onto them, pencil-side down.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually, beating well between each addition. Beat in vanilla. Sift cocoa over meringue and gently fold through until evenly combined.
Spread meringue onto the trays within pencil lines. Sprinkle almonds onto the meringue. Bake for 45 minutes, swapping trays from top to bottom shelf halfway through.Turn off oven, prop the door ajar and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, to make Candied Oranges: Cut orange into 5mm slices. Combine water and sugar in a wide frying pan and stir over low heat, without boiling, until sugar has dissolved. Add orange slices and bring to the boil. Reduce heat slightly and cook at a gentle boil for 20 minutes. Turn off heat, and, using tongs, transfer each slice to a wire rack to cool.
Beat cream until soft peaks form. Set 1/3 of cream aside, and beat orange rind briefly into the larger portion, unti1just combined.
To assemble, spread orange cream over two of the meringues. Stack on a serving plate. Spread plain cream on remaining meringue, and place on top. Halve orange slices and arrange into cream. Run a vegetable peeler down long side of chocolate bar to make curls, quantity to taste, and put on top with Easter eggs.