Cooking time: 1Hr 30Mins

Ingredients

For the Meringue Mixture:
6 egg whites
360g caster sugar, sieved

For the Filling:
350g dark chocolate
150ml double cream, whipped
90g butter

For the Raspberries:
600ml red wine (and that leaves a glass for the chef!)
4 tbsp honey
2 sprigs thyme
700g raspberries
2 tsp of Arrowroot mixed with a little water, to thicken the sauce

Chocolate shavings (or broken Flake bar) and thyme sprigs, to decorate
Raspberry thyme sauce, to drizzle

Method:

Preheat the oven to 140°C/Fan 120°C/Gas 1.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw large, medium and small heart shapes, measuring 24cm, 20cm and 16cm on the underside of the parchment paper, ensuring that you can see the shape through the paper.

Place the egg whites into a bowl. With an electric hand mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually whisk in half of the caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Fold in the remaining caster sugar.

Using a piping bag with a plain nozzle, spoon the mixture into the bag and following the line of the heart shapes, fill in the shapes with the meringue mixture. Secure the parchment paper to the baking sheet with a little of the meringue mixture to ensure the paper does not lift in the oven.

Bake immediately for 1½ hours or until set.

Leave the oven door slightly open so that the meringues can cool in the oven.

Meanwhile, to prepare the raspberries, place the red wine, honey and thyme in a saucepan and warm through. Remove for the heat. Place the raspberries in a shallow bowl and pour the wine over. Cool and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

To make the filling, melt the chocolate and the butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Allow to cool and then fold in the whipped cream.

To make the sauce, using a slotted spoon, gently remove the raspberries from the liquid, taking care not to break them. Strain the liquid and return to the saucepan.

Add the Arrowroot mix and heat the liquid to thicken to a light sauce consistency.

Spread the large and medium meringue hearts with some of the chocolate mixture and top with raspberries. Starting with the largest heart at the bottom, pile the meringues on top of each other.