I can’t remember my mother or grandmothers ever making any kind of meringue when I was growing up. They didn’t put meringue on top of their banana pudding, or make divinity. In my foggy memory I think I might have made some kind of meringue dessert since I have been married, but it doesn’t stand out in my mind.
That should have been a hint…
I have to admit that I had not heard of Meringues Chantilly, the Barefoot Bloggers‘ second recipe for February, chosen by BMK of Reservations Not Required. I was excited to try something new, and I had just broken in my cream whipper that is absolutely fabulous! Making the meringue part of the recipe was not difficult and they came out just as described. I made a few extra little dollops with the leftovers and ate one the next morning.
Blaaah. It was super sweet, but I expected that. What I didn’t expect was the bad taste it left. I must be a cream of tartar SUPERTASTER, ’cause I tasted that stuff for hours.
I didn’t let that stop me, though. I made the whipped cream and the berries and put them together for our dessert. But we all were disappointed in the meringues. They were too hard for the kids, I ate a few bites and then finally gave up, and the husband just said “I’ve tried those things before and I don’t like ’em”.
We were all surprised, though, at how delicious the stewed berries were. They were so good, like pie filling all by itself. So here’s what we did – we toasted leftover biscuits, sprinkled some sugar on them, and topped them with the berries and whipped cream. HEAVEN!
I definitely plan to make the berries again. The meringues, not so much. If I do decide to tackle another type of meringue, I’ll find a substitute for the cream of tartar for sure.
from Barefoot In Paris by Ina Garten
serves 12
Meringues:
Ingredients
- 6 extra – large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur, recipe follows
- Stewed berries, recipe follows
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 6 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheets.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a large pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy. Add 1 cup of the sugar and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large star – shaped pastry tip, pipe a disc of meringue inside each circle. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.
- Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.
- Spread some of the sauce from the stewed berries on each plate. Place a meringue on top and fill with whipped cream. Top with berries and serve.
- 2 cups (1 pint) cold heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange liqueur (I omitted this)
Directions
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla and orange liqueur and continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. Don’t over beat, or you’ll end up with butter! (I used my cream whipper-see above)
Stewed berries:
Ingredients
- 1 half-pint fresh blueberries
- 3 half-pints fresh raspberries, divided
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 teaspoons framboise (raspberry brandy) (I used Chambord)
Directions
Combine the blueberries, one-half pint of raspberries, 1/3 cup water, the sugar and zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. The juice will become a syrup and the berries will be slightly cooked. Off the heat, stir in the remaining raspberries and the framboise. Set aside.
Yield: 8 servings
Shortbread 
Oh, I’m sorry you guys didn’t like them. I think the recipe calls for you to bake them for WAY too long. Meringues are (by nature) supposed to be crisp on the outside and crumbly on the inside. My first batch I baked for 2 hours… that was a disaster. I don’t know if there’s a substitute for cream of tartar. I actually wasn’t aware it even had a taste. Oh well. At least you liked the berries.
I’ve had meringues before and didn’t like them at all, just for the reason you say–they were way too hard and dry. Sorry yours didn’t turn out, but I agree that the berries were super good!
Some people can really taste the COT or baking soda in some recipes. Kind of stays with you like a cucumber or durian fruit. I actually don’t cook with booze *generally*, so I didn’t use any in my fruit. The cookbook recipe was different than the one online. It did not call for stewed berries, just “berries”. But berries are not in season now and it just makes sense to stew them.
Can you leave Cream of Tartar out? Sorry you didn’t like them. They are so pretty.
First of all, your blog is beautiful! Maybe I should switch over to wordpress…
Secondly, that really sucks that you did not like the pavlova, but I do agree, the berry stew is amazing. I added strawberries because they were cheaper than another two half pints of rasberries and it worked out just as well.
The dish looks very pretty… too bad it didn’t turn out like you’d hoped for. Thanks for visiting my blog 🙂
Too bad you didn’t like them. You can leave the cream of tartar out. It’ll take a bit more work to beat up the egg whites but that’s what electricity is for.
Yours looks amazing, I’m sorry it didn’t score in the taste area. I must be fortunate that I can’t taste COT. My meringues were a little chewy inside, but I agree they were way too sweet!
I think what you say about the meringue is fair – for me the meringue was purely a delivery system for the cream and the berries which were definitely the stars of the show.
I’m so glad you liked these. Yours look great. Maybe try Meringue Powder instead of the cream of tarter.
Too bad they were not a favorite–they looked great. I liked them but they were way too sweet for me too.
the berries seem to be getting rave reviews. i enjoyed the whole dessert!
I agree with you about the meringues. They were hard and very sweet to eat alone. Once I added the berries and whipped cream they sort of softened and the tart berries balanced out the sweet. Good pictures and I love your description!