Eton Mess with Délice Glacé meringues

I can trace my love affair with meringues to my first bite of Eton Mess- that quintessential English dessert that is the perfect melange of plump, juicy strawberries, crunchy meringue and clouds of sweet whipped cream.

It was on a warm London evening in July some thirty odd years ago when my Aunt placed an enormous bowl for my cousin and me to share. Two spoons were plunged into the depths of a cool pink tinged fluff, that to the delight of my taste buds, was equal parts crunchy and smooth, sweet and sour. One bite and all my intentions of politely sharing this ethereal dessert were abandoned. I hope that my meringues and this easiest of dessert recipe can make you equally passionate about meringues and meringue desserts. This gluten free dessert comes together in mere minutes and is the perfect sweet end to a summer meal.

Ingredients:

Fresh Strawberries 100g

Fresh raspberries 100g

1/2 Cup heavy cream

1 bag Délice Glacé rose meringues

1 bag Délice Glacé Confetti Crunch Meringues

Method:

Makes five small servings.

Hull and chunk the strawberries

Crush three rose meringues to make meringue dust.

Macerate strawberries with rose meringue dust. Reserve rest of the rose meringues

Blend the raspberries to create a chunky raspberry sauce.

Whip the chilled cream.

Fold in the strawberries and three quarters of the raspberry sauce.

Fold in all the Confetti Crunch Meringues and the remaining rose meringues.

Serve immediately.

Lemon Meringue "Quarantini"

The world is at home and we all have to work with whatever it is that we have in abundance. In my case, that's always meringues. Besides, many of us have trees laden with lemons right now so this was really the perfect drink to make on this Friday that marks our 4 weeks of being in shelter.

I do recommend using a good quality limoncello in this recipe. My mother-in-law brought me a bottle from Villa Massa in Sorrento (from when we were all hopping across world borders like pieces on a chess board) and I've been dying to create something with this gorgeously fragrant liquor.

Clearly life has given us lemons right now so let us make a boozy lemon meringue drink. I'm not quite sure if this is a martini, all I know is that it tastes just like lemon meringue pie. Its pucker up tartness is off set by the sweetness of the meringue. The recipe is really just a guide so feel free to adjust to your taste. The quantities below serve two.

Ingredients:

2 oz vodka*

2 oz limoncello*

Juice of one large lemon

4 heaped tablespoons lemon curd

1 Cup ice cubes

6 Confetti Crunch Meringues

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and give them a good shake in a cocktail shaker.

Float three Confetti Crunch Meringues on your drink

If you have a blowtorch flame the meringues lightly to toast them just a bit.

*Can substitute with simple syrup

French Meringue Frosting

While I love all types of meringue I have a particular weakness for the French ones- the crunchy, crispy, light as air, melt in your mouth morsels that are part cotton candy, part marshmallow and part crispy cookie in one delectable bite. Yes, French meringues are great on their own as a sweet snack or dessert but I find that their versatility is completely overlooked and I am on a mission to share all the various ways in which great French meringues can elevate and enhance recipes.

Note that for this recipe, or any of the of the others that I will share that require French meringues, you cannot use the meringue cookies that you find packaged in industrial plastic tubs in most grocery stores across America. While I admittedly have a problem with plastic tubs it is actually the quality of the meringues with which I have the biggest beef. For recipes in which the texture and flavor of the meringue is important you must either use homemade meringues or meringues made in a small batch bakery like mine. Hint, hint, you can purchase them in the online meringue shop here- Yay!

Here is my son, Tahm's, favorite cream cheese frosting recipe (by Smitten Kitchen) to which I like to add Délice Glacé meringues in order to increase its creaminess and lend it a depth of flavor that complements the cake that I am baking.

In this instance, as Zar and I were baking a carrot cake for my Mom's Zoom birthday celebration so I decided to use Délice Glacé's Caramel Pink Salt meringues to give the frosting deep caramel notes that would work well with the cake. Its so exciting to use flavored meringues in this way because you can play around with different flavors to give your basic frosting recipe (or dare I say it- even store bought frosting) that oomph. Let me know what flavor combos you decide to try.

Ingredients

2 x 8 oz cream cheese packages softened (Philadelphia brand recommended)

2 sticks unsalted butter softened

2 Cups confectioner's sugar

2 tsp Vanilla extract

One pack of Délice Glacé's Caramel Pink Salt Meringues

Method

Beat together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth, light and fluffy. Beat in sugar, a little at a time to avoid a sugar snow storm. Add the vanilla and mix with the electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add in a handful of the meringues at a time. The blades of the mixer will satisfyingly break up the meringues. Add meringues to taste (you need not add the whole pack- leave some to snack on). If you use the frosting immediately, you will get nice crunchy bits of meringue. As the frosting sits, the meringues will dissolve and lend a creaminess to it.