Annabel's Pantry - all things meringue

Egg tempera painting is recognised as the second oldest medium after encaustic and flourished until oil painting was perfected in the 16th century. The transformation of the artists’ alchemy to the kitchen was quite possibly serendipitous. I can just imagine Mrs Botticelli out the back whipping up a bit of egg white for The Birth of Venus, and having a play with sugar and heat to discover the divine confection of meringue.

HANDLING MERINGUE MIXTURES

* Always start with eggs that are not too fresh- very fresh eggs will not create such a voluminous mixture. Cooked meringue mixtures that ‘bleed’ a clear white liquid are the result of using eggs that are too fresh
* Ensure mixing bowl and whisk are sparklingly clean before you start, and that no egg yolk breaks into the whites; any fat will prevent whites from forming a thick meringue.
* Avoid making meringue mixtures on a humid day - the mixture absorbs moisture and cooked meringues will soften and get sticky. If you live in a humid climate, allow meringues to cool fully and then store immediately in an airtight container or freeze.

LIGHT-AS-AIR MERINGUES

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 3 hours plus overnight drying in oven
Makes: 2 dozen regular meringues or 4 dozen mini ones

200g / 1 cup less 1 tbsp caster sugar
100g / 3 large egg whites (size 7)

Preheat oven to 85°C (do not use fan bake). Beat egg whites on high speed to soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar while still beating. Continue beating on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes.

Using a large, plain nozzle pipe mixture onto oven trays lined with baking paper. Alternatively, drop small teaspoons of mixture onto lined trays.

Bake for 3 hours then turn oven off. Leave in oven overnight without opening the door. Store in an air-tight container.

For petit meringues: Using a large, plain nozzle pipe high “kisses”, the size of a 20 cent piece. Bake as above.

MERINGUE IDEAS

Lemon meringue tarts

Pipe lemon curd into individual cooked sweet pastry cases and top each one with a meringue.

Chocolate-dipped meringues

Dip meringues in melted chocolate then place on waxed paper to dry. Sandwich with whipped cream and chill until ready to serve.

Fantasy Pavlova

To make a pavlova you really need an electric beater and egg whites that are not too fresh. If they are the pavlova will weep.

To Prepare:15 minutes
To Cook: 1 hour and 5 minutes

6 egg whites, preferably free range, at room temperature pinch of salt
1 1⁄2 cups castor sugar
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vinegar Topping
1 cup Berry Compote
3 punnets fresh mixed berries, eg raspberries, strawberries (hulled and halved) and blueberries

Heat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and mark a circle about 16cm diameter with a plate. Place the egg whites into the clean bowl of an electric beater. Add the salt and beat until stiff. Slowly add the sugar with the beater running. Beat for about 10 minutes at high speed until the meringue is thick and glossy – it should be thick enough not to fall from the beater. Last of all, whisk in the cornflour and vinegar.

Use a big spoon to drop dollops of meringue into the circled area of baking paper. Form into a circle of meringue, making swirls with the spoon on the top rather than flattening to a neat tidy disc. Bake at 180°C (not fan bake) for 5 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 130°C and cook a further hour. Turn off oven and leave pavlova to cool in the oven. Pavlova can be cooked ahead a couple of days and stored in an airtight container, or frozen.

To serve, spoon Berry Compote over pavlova and scatter over mixed berries. Serves 8-10.

Meringues offer a useful starting point for the quick assembly for all kinds of great desserts.

For a quick parfait fold crushed meringues into whipped cream and add berries, roasted nuts, praline or other flavours of your choice. You will find the recipe for Eton Mess on page 192 of Assemble - Sensational Food Made Simple.

Lemon meringue pie is a classic much loved dessert – for a quick shortcut fill a cooked sweet pastry crust with lemon curd.

Whisk up a meringue with 3 egg whites, 2/3 cup castor sugar, beating until mixture is very thick and sugar has dissolved( rub a little between your fingers). Pile on top of lemon curd. Bake at 200°C until meringue is lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

You can make a terrific frozen dessert which will keep for weeks in the freezer by beating together egg whites and sugar to make a thick meringue, then folding in whipped cream, crumbled meringues and flavours of your choice eg berries, nuts, dried fruit and nuts etc.

For the exact recipe look to The Best of Annabel Langbein, Frozen Chantilly Coconut Cake with Berry Compote page 264.

Everyone has their own favourite version of pavlova- some add vanilla and a little cornstarch to the meringue, others a little vinegar. Its also fun to make a meringue roulade, the meringue is spread out thinly and cooked in a sponge roll tin, then cooled, spread with a creamy filling and rolled. There is a great recipe for Soft Meringue Roulade in Cooking to Impress page 124.

Flavouring meringue mixtures with nuts and spices turns them into a new dessert. You need to work carefully with additions such as nuts that contain oil to ensure you do not delate the mixture. One of my all time favourite freezer dessert treats is Hazelnut dreams – a hazelnut meringue sandwiched with chocolate mousse and frozen. Perfect for an impromptu dessert that will really wow people. You will find the recipe for Hazelnut dreams on pg 140 of Savour Italy.

Other fabulous meringue recipes:

Cooking to Impress
• Meringues
• Individual Coconut Pavlovas (featured in Christmas feasts menu)