The French magazine where I found this recipe described it as “trifle” — it’s not much like British trifle, but it’s light, refreshing, and a bit less calorie-laden! Serve in tall straight glasses.
Fermented milk is available in supermarkets in France — I haven’t seen it elswhere, but it’s rather like very thin yogurt. Maybe buttermilk would do, or even Actimel).
Serves 4. Assemble no more than half an hour before eating, or the meringues will go soggy.
750g red fruit (stoned cherries, rapsberries, strawberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants …)
1/2 litre fermented milk
100 g ground almonds
150 ml whipping cream
50 g caster sugar
2-3 large meringues
juice of 1 lemon
4 tbs cane syrup
2 tbs crème de cassis
The day before, mix the ground almonds with the fermented milk, cover, and leave in the fridge overnight.
The next day, press this mixture through a fine sieve, leaving the almond debris behind. Whip the cream until stiff, adding the sugar at the end. Fold gently into the almond milk and refrigerate.
Rinse and trim the fruit, cutting large fruits into pieces (nb you can easily use frozen fruit for this recipe). Mix with the lemon juice, cane syrup, and cassis. Slice the meringues across with a serrated knife (this isn’t easy, especially if they are gooey home-made meringues, but it doesn’t really matter too much if they fall apart).
To serve, take 4 tall glasses and put a layer of fruit in the bottom. Top with a slice of meringue (or a layer of meringue bits if they’ve disintegrated), pour over a layer of almond cream, and repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of fruit.