Its day 4 of Mad Meringue Week here on Gelsomina’s Cucina and I hope you have been enjoying the recipes so far, todays is something a little simple, but simple does not mean tasteless, these little beauties are vibrant and full of the taste of summer. Still to come this week we have some chocolatey naughtiness for Friday and then on Saturday and Sunday two beautiful classics for something a little special for the weekend.
I know I am obsessed with meringue kisses, but these strawberry ones made with strawberry puree using fresh strawberries warm from the sun in my garden and fragrant black pepper are just a little bit special. I also know that where possible I said I would try and bring you two recipes using the same flavours, well today the recipes are basically the same, but just two versions, one is just a little easier than the other.
A good thing about this recipe is that even when the strawberries are not in season you can still make this with great results as you can use frozen strawberries or even early or late in the season, just because they are under ripe or a little over ripe because you are cooking them in a little sugar it doesn’t matter, they will still taste amazing and personally I love the smell of cooking strawberries.
I hope you enjoy todays photographs, all my photo’s are taken on my iPhone, when the sun is out and glorious like it has been it makes food photography and food styling a lot easier, so far today the sun is in and out, but hopefully it will make an appearance for todays photos.
Buon appetito
Makes approx 50 kisses
Ingredients:
For the meringues:
150g egg whites
300g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
For the Strawberry & Black Pepper Flavouring:
50g frozen or fresh strawberries
Pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp course ground black pepper
Make the strawberry coulis by heating up the strawberries with a pinch of sugar in a pan until broken down, then whizz them into a thick paste. Cool in the fridge.
Line a deep tray with baking paper and the oven down to 100C.
Add egg whites to clean bowl of a KitchenAid with 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar. At first whisk slowly allowing small stabilising bubbles to form, then increase the speed until the egg whites form medium peaks.
Using a large spoon, add the sugar spoon by spoon while continuing to whisk. It is ready once you have a full bodied, stiff and glossy mixture (about 5 minutes).
Stir through 1 tbsp of the cooled strawberry coulis with a sprinkling of black pepper to taste.
Turn a disposable piping bag inside out, and use a paintbrush to paint stripes of red natural food colouring on the inside. Fill the piping bag ensuring there are no air bubbles, and cut the tip off to the size of a 20p piece. Pipe small kisses onto a lined baking tray.
Bake for 30-40 minutes if you like to keep your meringues mallowy and soft in the middle, taking them out of the oven as soon as they lift off the baking paper with the base intact. We like ours a little dryer, so cook for 1 hour, then just turn the oven off and leave the meringues in there until the oven has cooled completely.
For a simple version:-
4 medium egg whites
225g white caster sugar
50g frozen strawberries
Pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp course ground black pepper
Heat the oven to 110c, 90c fan, gas mark 1/4.
Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Beat in the sugar 1 tablespoon as a time until thick and glossy. Stir in gently the strawberry coulis (instructions for making this are in the above recipe) and black pepper.
Prepare your piping bag as above by painting lines of food colouring down the inside of the bag and then fill with the meringue mixture, I use a large fluted nozzle, but you can use what ever you prefer.
Holding the bag vertical, pipe a blob about the size of a walnut onto a baking sheet, pipe a smaller blob on top followed by another slightly smaller. Lift away the nozzle sharply. I always draw circles onto the parchment, then turn it over and stick it to the baking tray. This way you can see the circles thru the paper and you can pipe the perfect size every time. I found that the little pots edible glitter come in are just the perfect size to draw, round. Continue, spacing well apart, until all the mixture is used up.
Cook for about an hour until a meringue peels away easily. If you prefer a chewy meringue remove from the oven at once, if you like them drier, turn off the heat, leaving the meringues inside, and prop open the door slightly with a skewer.
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