Berries on a Cloud {Best Dessert of the Summer!}
No joke, this amazingly delicious berries on a cloud dessert will be the best dessert you will try all summer. Promise!
I have so much to say about this dessert. And so little time. (It’s summer. School’s out. My 5 kids need stuff. From me. My life is not my own.)
So let’s get down to the nitty gritty.
I have never made meringue in all my existence. It doesn’t speak to me. Or at least it hasn’t spoken to me in the past. I guess I haven’t understood the appeal of crunchy egg whites. I know. I need to get out more.
But when my friend, Ursala, sent me this recipe, it intrigued me. Enough to spend the last month making it 5 times to perfect it. I’m not kidding.
I love you guys so much I’m unwilling to give you a less-than-perfect perfect summer dessert.
So I made this over and over and over to get it just right. My belly has most definitely had enough meringue to last a lifetime, although, I haven’t heard any official complaints yet which must be a sign that this dessert is good.
I’m a total meringue convert now. At least in applications like this.
Although the recipe may seem intimidating, it’s actually a no-brainer if you want a perfect light, creamy summer dessert that can be made ahead of time.
In fact it needs to be made ahead of time and happens to be completely dreamy for those occasions when you don’t have time to throw together dessert the day of.
I even included step-by-step photos of the meringue-making process to really, really, really convince you that this dessert should be part of your life.
While the meringue itself (it’s the bottom layer in those pictures, by the way) isn’t anything special on its own, something extremely magical happens when it is topped with the creamy, lighter-than-cheesecake-but-kinda-the-same mixture.
Resting in the refrigerator for a couple hours softens the meringue into an ethereal texture not unlike eating a spoonful of puffy white clouds; hence the name.
The entire combination of fluffy meringue, luxurious whipped cream cheese cream (I can’t figure out a better way to say that), and easy, homemade cherry/strawberry syrup is absolutely amazing.
It’s quite remarkable that even after this dessert showed up five times over a short time period, there were still oohs and aahs at the table.
On one of the occasions, I had Brian take two pans of it to an activity with a bunch of teenagers and reports are that several of the youth who shall remain nameless went back for thirds.
It’s elegant enough to serve for a dinner party or for hoity-toity entertaining but simple and delicious enough to make for the fam or for a low-key occasion.
While you ponder how quickly you can feasibly make this, I will ponder why I have the utter inability to be concise (remember how in the first paragraph I declared I needed to make this short and sweet)?
My children have now raided the pantry, refrigerator and my secret stash of chocolate chips (how did they get up there without me seeing?). That’s what I get.
However, losing my hoard of instant-therapy will be worth it if you make this. Gotta run. Literally.
One Year Ago: Black Bottom Pudding Pie
Two Years Ago: Caramel Brownies
Three Years Ago: Asian Noodle Salad
Berries on a Cloud Dessert
Ingredients
Meringue:
- 6 large egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
Topping:
- 8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 ¼ cups (143 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
Berry Topping:
- 16 ounces (454 g) frozen sweet cherries
- ½ cup (106 g) sugar
- ¾ cup cold water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar and salt until foamy. While beating at high speed, gradually add the sugar one tablespoon or so at a time until it has been incorporated. Continue beating until the whites form stiff peaks. Don’t underbeat or the meringue won’t set up correctly.
- Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan. Spread the meringue mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and let the pan of meringue sit in the oven overnight (or for 10-12 hours).
- Around the same time as the meringue, prepare the berry topping (so it has time to cool in the refrigerator). In a medium saucepan, combine the cherries, sugar, water, lemon juice and cornstarch. Over medium-low heat, bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 10-20 minutes until slightly thickened. Pour the mixture into a bowl and let cool at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Stir in the sliced strawberries. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- At least 4-6 hours before serving, remove the meringue from the oven. In a medium bowl, whip the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Pour in the whipping cream and starting on low speed (so the cream doesn’t splatter everywhere), whip the mixture together until it is thick and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Spread the cream cheese topping over the cooled meringue.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
- When ready to serve, cut the dessert into pieces and top with a spoonful of the berry mixture.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: sent to me by my friend, Ursala, adapted from Betty Crocker (reduced sugar in both the meringue and the filling, altered the cherry filling to use frozen cherries instead of pie filling, omitted the marshmallows – seriously, too much sweetness – and increased the cream cheese)
Can this be froze and served later?
I’ve never frozen this so I’m afraid I don’t know how it would fare – sorry!
If I have fresh cherries, what would the appropriate amount be? I am starting this recipe now!!!
About 4 cups.
Still the most requested dessert in my family—we all love it.
I’ve made this a couple times in the past with random berry sauces with awesome results. Last night I made the cherry/strawberry combo on the recipe and I have to say it was a game changer!!! So ridiculously good, I was kicking myself for not trying it sooner. I have plans to make this dessert as frequent as possible this spring/summer!!
Can this recipe be halved? I just want serving size for 6 people.
Yes it can.
Made the full recipe of berries on a cloud for our 4th of July dinner. (just the two of us empty nesters) took us 4 days but managed to eat the entire 9×13 dish of this heavenly dessert! This one’s a definite keeper! : )
This looks SO GOOD. I just have one quick question. Could the cherry topping be substituted with another berry and sauce? I am NOT a cherry fan.
Thanks!
Yes, for sure! You can use a mixed berry blend for the cherries.
Any tips on cutting and serving? I made it – it looks delicious but I’m taking it to work and worried about the presentation once I’ve served the first piece. How long can it sit out before it starts to collapse? Thanks for any advice!
It probably won’t collapse as long as it isn’t super warm. The meringue layer is pretty sturdy. I usually use a sharp 8-inch knife and make clean slices (wiping the knife with a paper towel in between slices).
Sorry Mel, I didn’t see all the comments before I ask if you could other berries. We lived in Australia for 18 months and we love meringue anything. Question? Sometimes on video tutorial I see you using some type of flat skillet that you have plugged. What is that and where would I find one?. It looks very handy.
Mel, have used other fruit with this recipe? It looks just delicious.
I almost always use the cherries/strawberries, but I think you could use a variety of fruits!
This is delicious. Even my husband gave it rave reviews and it’s hard to get a decent genuine compliment from him. Will make this again and again I am sure!
A family favourite!
I’ve made this multiple times now & it is always a hit. In fact, certain people request it every time I am in charge of bringing dessert for gatherings. I’ve changed up the berry combo depending on what I have on hand & it works like a charm. Thanks, Mel!
Love the recipe. Your pictures show such sharp clean cut pieces. How do you do that.
I have a sharp chef’s knife that works really well – sometimes I’ll run it under hot water and wipe dry between slices, too.
Hi Mel, I’m making this recipe this week and halving it like you did in the above photos…is the baking time also cut in half or should I bake it for the full amount? Thanks!
I bake it for the same amount of time – just to be safe, check it a few minutes early.
Super easy dessert that stole the show at a recent dinner party. Never made meringue befor so followed directions exactly. Turned out fantastic. Added blueberries to berry sauce.
I made this last night for guests and it was a hit! Yummy, yummy, yummy!
I’m trying to cut down on sugar. Do you think this could be made with less sugar in both the meringue and the top layer? It looks so delicious and light, but it’s a lot of sugar.. LOVE your blog and your recipes!
I haven’t tried cutting back the sugar but you could certainly experiment.
After seeing this recipe, and it looks yummy, I couldn’t help but laugh at your welcoming comment “My sole purpose in this little space is to help you make the best food of your life.”
Now don’t get me wrong, this is a great recipe, but really?? It’s not exactly the best food for anyones life now is it?
Well someone got up on the wrong side of bed…
I made this for Easter dessert and it was amazing! I was nervous about making meringue since I’d never done it before. When I got up in the morning after leaving it in the oven overnight, I was sure I had made a mistake! It looked like there was a shell on top, and what was underneath seemed too sticky and gooey. I left it out a few more hours (it had only been about 8 hours since it finished baking), and then decided to just go ahead with the cream cheese mixture and hope for the best. I was so surprised by the finished product–it was perfect! The “shell” on top of the meringue had completely disappeared. Next time I would make sure I spread the meringue very, very evenly since it turned out a little lopsided, but other than that I had no problems at all. So anyone who is nervous about making this–don’t be!
I make this with just fresh berries on the top, dusted with powdered sugar for prettiness – saves some steps, and along with your other changes, people love it – makes it lighter and divine-er than the traditional 🙂
Whoa this was ridiculously good! I’ve never made meringue before so I was a little nervous when the sides puffed up much higher than the center but it was easy to slice 😀 Instead of frozen cherries I used a bunch of different frozen berries since thats all I had in the freezer.
I made it for my parents and grandparents and we devoured almost all of it! They all said that it was one of the best desserts they’ve ever eaten 😀
I put the letover slices back into fridge because it was a little too much for only 5 people and I really hope it’ll still be ok tomorrow
I’ll defintely make this desser again!
This looks absolutely mouthwatering delicious! I have never made meringue before but I love an adventure and so its a go! I am curious, however, have you ever changed up your berries……say strawberries and blackberries? Or are the cherries just, well, the cherry on top? Thank you for posting, can’t wait to taste this!
Hi Lynda – the fruit topping for this is very easily adaptable! You could definitely use strawberries and blackberries; I think it would be delicious.
Mel, I made this for Father’s Day yesterday, and while it was a huge hit and definitely declared the best out of the three desserts we had, it didn’t look so pretty. I followed everything step by step. The meringue got really puffy in the oven to where it was puffed up higher than the walls of my pan. So then when I put the cream layer on top, it was kind of wanting to slide off. Then when I put it back into the fridge, after about 4 hours, the meringue had broken and the whole thing sunk. Do you know what I did wrong? It definitely tasted good, but I wish it would have looked better!
Julia – I am not sure what went wrong – usually the center of the meringue will fall while the sides stay high. It sounds like it might have baked a few minutes too long. I am glad it tasted good though!
I made the meringue last night and it looked good. This morning when I looked at it in the oven, it is like a big air bubble has formed during baking and now the bottom and top are now separated–almost like I could lift part of the top off (does this make sense?). I am hoping it will still work as I figured it would compact a little once I put the cream cheese topping on it. Do you thing I would be all right to continue with the dessert process or do I need to attempt the meringue again?
Jane – This response is probably too late – but go ahead with the recipe. I think it will be ok.
I love to make Nigella’s Pavlova (my grandson loves it), but it seems kind of tedious to draw on parchment paper, then plop the meringue on the paper and bake and so on.
Do you think I could just bake the meringue portion of this recipe in a baking pan and then later, throw some fresh fruit on it and whipping cream – it seems like it would be easier to put together and store, etc. What do you all think?
Sherry – Definitely worth a try!