The pavlova you have when you are too lazy to make a pavlova.

I like desserts. That's no secret. But with Baby G and her cranky time being in the evening at the moment, homemade puddings are few and far between for us right now.

When it comes to sweet things, I particularly like pavlova - it's a combination of textures and flavours that really appeals to me: the crunchiness of the meringue and the softness of the cream contrasts beautifully with the sharpness of the fruit.

But when you don't have the 15 minutes to whip up the egg whites and the sugar, an hour and a quarter to bake it and overnight to cool it, then this is almost as good. And it takes less than 10 minutes to whip the cream, crumble the meringues and chop the fruit. Bliss.

Miss Kitty's Layered Pavlova
Serves 2

4-6 store bought meringues or 2 meringue nests
200ml thickened cream
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (paste is better)
1/2 punnet strawberries
1/2 punnet raspberries (or a handful of frozen raspberries)
1/4 punnet blueberries

Chop the strawberries and place in a bowl with the raspberries and the blueberries. Stir to combine and set aside. Whip the cream and the vanilla until soft peaks are formed. Crumble two or three of the meringues into two serving glasses and top with half the cream. Divide most of the fruit between the two glasses then repeat the layers with the remaining meringues, cream and fruit.

You can make this with any fruit you like: mango, passionfruit, kiwi fruit, banana, peaches, nectarines, cherries... Whatever you have going spare in the fridge! It's absolutely delicious and worth the few minutes required for the assembly.

Kitty