Ginger Cream Meringues with Berries

The August 2008 issue of the Canadian Living magazine has the original recipe that I used and then made changes to. I ended up using a well liked recipe for pavlova, that I have from my friend Herta, to make the individual meringues, since the recipe in the magazine did not work for me. I absolutely love the ginger custard, which is new to me. The original recipe suggestion for the topping calls for macerated blueberries, but I used a mixture for more flavor and color.
A bit of trivia included with the blueberry recipe:
Blueberries are Canada’s number 1 fruit crop in terms of crop area and they are as Canadian as maple syrup!

MERINGUES:
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
4 tsp cornstarch
1 c sugar

Beat egg whites and salt until frothy, then add lemon juice, vanilla and cornstarch.
Gradually add sugar, beating until very stiff (approx. 5 minutes)
Line a large cookie sheet with foil (shiny side down) or parchment paper. With a large serving spoon, form 6 - 4inch in diameter mounds; then, using back of spoon, form into nests.
Bake at 250F for approximately 75 min. Then turn oven off and leave for 15 minutes. Cool. Store in covered container or zip lock bag and refrigerate. Can be made the day ahead.

CUSTARD:
2 cups milk, divided
1 piece ginger root, (1 - 2 inches) peeled, sliced thinly
1/3 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
¼ cup cornstarch
1/2 cup whipping cream

In small saucepan, heat 1 ½ milk with ginger over med heat until bubbles form around edge; remove ginger.
In bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and ¼ cup milk; blend yolks in well, then another ¼ cup milk.
Stir into hot milk and cook over med heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, pour into bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface and refrigerate until cool. Whip cream, then fold into cooled pudding. Cover and refrigerate. Can be made a day ahead.

BERRY TOPPING: (approximate amounts)
3 cups berries (raspberries, blackberries and or blueberries)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp lemon juice

I sort of winged it with the topping, and I don’t remember the exact amounts, but you can just put the berries into a small pot. Mix up the cornstarch with a bit of water and add to berries, add sugar and lemon to taste. Cook until desired consistency, not long.
Mine was a bit thin at the beginning and I just kept adding berries until it looked and tasted good