Day 27 - Egg based

I finally got all my cleaning done. I was up early to take Max for a long walk and to play to tire him out and than I got right to work cleaning the house. I got the drapes washed, dusting done, floors washed, everything! I had all the windows open to get the fresh air going through the house and Max just slept in the front hall while I ran around the house. After finishing the chores, I started on another cake order. It was for a Birthday Poker Cake. I will post a picture when it is all done. Now that I am familiar with chocolate molds, I am going to try and use that to my advantage. Maybe use them to make poker chips or the cards.  As you can see below the puppy was completely tired out after the walk.

When I think egg based, I think meringues. They are a super light cookie that can be eaten on their own, or added to ice creams and sundaes. It is a recipe that takes a longer amount of time to cook, but the actual recipe is pretty simple. When baked the meringue turns into a crispy styrofoam type cookie that literally melts in your mouth. You can make them in to cookies, or large disks to layer with berries, ice cream or whip creams.


Crisp Chewy Meringues

4 egg whites
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (or orange flower water, or maple extract)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Whip the whites and salt into peaks, add the vanilla, and continue beating to stiff peaks. Stir the cream of tartar into the regular sugar and whisk into the whites very gradually, a spoonful at a time, until the meringue is stiff and the sugar has dissolved. Sift together the icing sugar and cornstarch. Sift over the meringue and gently fold until fully incorporated.

Pipe or spoon the meringues onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 225ºF/110ºC until cream-coloured and crisp on top when tapped, 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Remove from the oven. Cool on the trays. Store in an air-tight container.

Beat salt, whites and vanilla until stiff.

It should be thick and fluffy when its is ready.

Whisk in the regular sugar mixture a spoonful at a time until sugar is dissolved.

Lightly stir in the icing sugar mixture until combined.

Drop spoonfuls of the meringue or pipe it on to parchment lined baking sheets.

They will be a little soft when they come out of the oven, but will become hard as they cool and will be ready to serve.

Tips:

With all the recipes I do, I come across ones that require only the yolks or whites of the egg. Instead of throwing out the un-needed part of the egg, I have started freezing them. It works great, get air tight containers and just store them in the freezer until needed. I also have a food scale which makes it super simple to use them in a recipes. An egg white ways about 30 grams and an egg yolk weighs about 20 grams.



These are my go to heals when I know I am going out dressed up and will have to walk from place to place (like going to dinner downtown and than walking the market). They are super comfortable and have a little sparkle to them.

Off to finish the birthday cake, hope it goes well.

Happy Baking!

Sey