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.

Easy Victoria Sponge with Cardamom, Marmalade and Rose (adapted from Nigella Lawson)

One of the unintended effects of being in shelter is that (much to my children's delight) I have the time to bake more than just meringues and meringue cakes. Their enthusiastic approval of my meringue confections may have fueled my passion for meringues but because they live in a veritable candy store they no longer yearn for my meringues. I'm not complaining- I really can't have them literally eating my profits :)

However, as I only typically bake meringues I rarely have more than sugar and eggs on hand in my home kitchen and I never have anything as exciting as buttermilk or cake flour. So when I have the urge to bake a "proper" cake I have to bake something simple that calls for the bare essential ingredients. This Victoria Sponge meets that criterion. Its an easy bake, uses the bare minimum ingredients and is the perfect accompaniment to tea or dessert.

I did use Délice Glacé meringues to decorate the cake. The meringues enhance the flavors of the cake and if you're not into elaborate piping they really do save a lot of time. Also, quite frankly I really can't help myself- I have a meringue problem.

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 sticks softened butter (salted or unsalted)

1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

Orange- 1 small, grated zest

3-4 Tablespoons rose syrup*

1 2/3 Cup All purpose flour

3Tbs cornstarch

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

4 large room temperature eggs

1/8 tsp cardamom powder**

For the filling:

Marmalade 1/4-1/2 C***

1 Cup heavy cream

2-3 Tbs confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons rose syrup or 2 tablespoons rose water

For the decoration:

Délice Glacé Rose Meringues - 1 packet

Délice Glacé Passion Fruit Meringues- 1 packet

2 x 8" cake pans

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease the pans and line the bases with parchment paper.

2. Beat the butter, sugar and orange zest till light and fluffy.

3. Measure the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and cardamom powder in another bowl. I always like to pass the baking powder through a sieve and stir with a whisk to combine.

4. Beat one egg into the creamed butter and sugar, followed by one tables spoon of the flour mixture. Add all four eggs in this pattern. Once all eggs are added, scrape down the bowl and gradually beat in the remaining flour mixture.

5. Once all the flour in incorporated. Add the rose syrup one tablespoon at a time and beat until your batter falls easily off a spoon (you may not need the full quantity of the syrup). Do not over beat.

6. Divide cake batter evenly between the pans. Place side by side on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 20-25 or until a tester comes out clean.

7. Take out of the oven and leave on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

8. Work on your filling while your cakes are baking . Thin out the marmalade with the rose syrup or rose water.

9. Whisk cold heavy whipping cream until it reaches soft peaks. Add the confectioners' sugar and whisk briefly to incorporate.

10. Once the cakes have cooled. Spread the marmalade and rose syrup mixture on one of the cakes.

11. Pipe or slather the whipped cream on top of the marmalade.

12. Put the other cake on top (flat side down).

13. Brush the remaining marmalade on top of the cake.

14. Decorate with the rose and passion fruit meringues. The flavors will give it that extra oomph and a great crunch. Plus your cake will instantaneously look amazing.

*Substitute rose syrup with orange juice if you don't have any

**If you only have cardamom pods remove seeds from 3-4 pods and crush as best as possible.

*** Marmalade is important but at these times just use any jam you can find. The flavor will be different but it will still work.

Perfect meringue every time!

I remember that my first attempt at making meringues ended with the meringue mixture oozing out of the oven in a lazy trail; I'm not quite sure how I managed to achieve that but luckily, my subsequent attempts were a lot more successful.

Many home bakers are daunted at the prospect of making meringues because they have a reputation for being particularly temperamental. In fact, if you follow a few tips meringue behaves in an incredibly predictable fashion. Just follow these tips that we use in our meringue bakery every day.

• Clean your equipment. This doesn't mean a cursory wipe with a paper towel! Every morning before we start working in our kitchen we thoroughly wash everything that will come into contact with our meringue with hot soapy water even if we have washed it the afternoon before. Why? Because just one molecule of fat can ruin your meringue. Remember this mantra "Egg whites hate fat."

• Use a stand mixer. This is not the time to use that delicate hand whisk that you use to froth up some cream. Egg whites need serious muscle. Treat them right and you will be rewarded.

• Weigh your ingredients- no cup measures please- do it right the first time.

• The ratio of sugar to egg should be 2:1; that means if you are using 30g of egg whites you should use 60g of sugar in that recipe

• Use bakers sugar- the superfine texture is important- if you don't have any on hand (I never keep this in stock in my home kitchen) blitz some sugar in your food processor.

• Do spring for some cream of tartar- I know its expensive but its worth it.

• If you don't have cream of tartar and don't want to make a special trip to the store (I wouldn't) wipe down your clean mixing bowl and balloon whisk with a cut lemon or some vinegar

• Warm your sugar in a hot oven. Yes, five minutes in a hot oven will mean your sugar will melt faster in your egg whites- this is a good thing- especially if you have a life and want to do more with your day than stand peering into a bowl of egg whites. Although, staring intently at a bowl of whisking egg whites is something I do every day (multiple times a day) and I find it rather meditative, so go right ahead!

• Turn down said oven to 200º F as soon as you remove the sugar. Open the oven door and allow it to cool rapidly. Your oven should not be higher than 200ºF when the meringues go in.

• Whisk your egg whites to stiff peaks before you start adding your heated sugar.

• Add your sugar slowly- one tablespoon at a time- be patient- this is the time to catch up on your social media or text a friend.

• When all your sugar has been added, turn your mixer on high and whisk till all the sugar has dissolved. Make yourself a cup of coffee, take a nap, start a blog; this will take a while.

• After at least five minutes of whisking, if your mixture is showing stiff glossy peaks (see the picture) rub a tiny bit between your fingers to make sure that it is not gritty. If you can still feel grains of sugar in the mixture it means that the meringue needs to whisk longer.

• DO NOT over whip your meringue mixture. Yes this can happen. Stop when its still glossy and pretty. If it looks like cotton wool you've over whisked it- it will still taste good but it will look ugly. This can happen to the best of us. I have occasionally had to throw away a mixture because I took an extra long tea break while the meringue was being whisked.

• You will know when your meringues are ready to come out of the oven when they lift easily from the parchment (oh yes, line your baking sheet with parchment).

With these easy steps I can assure you that you will be able to create these feather-light, fat free, dairy free and gluten free treats at home. If you have questions or run into issues let me know. I'll be happy to walk you through.