When I first discovered that BMK of Reservations Not Required had chosen this recipe for the second February Barefoot Bloggers I was totally disappointed. I mean, eggs freak me out so meringues aren’t something that hold zero appetite appeal to me. Then they are topped with fresh berries. It’s February in Ontario, all of our “Fresh” berries come from South America or Mexico. Not my favourite. THEN the recipe calls for orange liqueur and framboise in tiny amounts. I of course wasn’t going to the LCBO to buy big bottles of this stuff and if anyone has ever tried to by alcohol in Ontario you know how hard it can be to find what you want especially if you want the small bottles. I seriously considered using one of my Barefoot Blogger pass cards on this one but didn’t want to waste it. I decided to “man up” to the task and make the darn Meringues Chantilly.
I have to admit, I was grumpy the entire time making these. I didn’t read the recipe all the way through ahead of time so the 2 hour baking time and 4+ hour resting time was a bit of a surprise. Don’t even get me started on my lack of pastry bag and the sticky, sloppy mess I made trying to use a Ziploc bag to pipe the meringues out. It was soooo hard and soooo sticky and not fun at all. But maybe that was the grumpiness talking.
The next day I quickly whipped up the berry topping and whipped cream and dare I say I fell in love? MERINGUES CHANTILLY IS THE BEST!!! Soooo good. It feels like a dessert but doesn’t feel too heavy. The flavours are delicious together and there are so many textures happening that it’s just perfection. Why was this dessert not on my radar before and what else am I missing out on in the world of desserts? Seriously.
I made a few modifications on this one. The recipe in is different than the recipe on the Food Network site so I used a hybrid of the two. I did a regular vanilla whipped cream instead of the orange and I used regular Brandy instead of framboise in the berries. Oh, and I skipped raspberries (too pricey!) and used strawberries and blueberries instead. LOVED IT.
Clearly I’m very passionate about this one!
Check out Barefoot Bloggers to see what others have to say!
Meringues Chantilly
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.
Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur:
* 2 cups (1 pint) cold heavy cream
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1 tablespoon orange liqueur
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 overbeat, or you’ll end up with butter!
Yield: 4 cups
Stewed berries:
* 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)
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
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
I loved it too. Now that you have been introduced to these meringue desserts you need to make your first pavlova!
Oh that looks great! I have an egg problem too. I don’t know what it is about eggs… but it just give me the icks. Glad you enjoyed the meringues after all the fuss.
~Cat
I’ve been making this recipe for a while now. and I love using strawberries instead of raspberries too.
It is fun when you can be pleasantly surprised at something you didn’t think you would like at all. I made the stewed berries, too and thought that was the best part!
Yay! I’m so glad you ended up loving them! Yours look divine! You have a great blog!
Yes, a fellow Canadian! Most of the time I live in Montreal, but I grew up here in Toronto and am visiting my family this week. I know EXACTLY what you mean about the LCBO, the SAQ in quebec is worse, so I am constantly having to skip the alcohol in all these recipes. We should just buy the big bottle and blog about how drunk we got trying to finish it off.
You done good girl.LOL – Your dessert looks beautiful. I was pleasantly surprised too.
Way to go! You made a beautiful dessert in spite of all of the obstacles! I never would have guessed you had problems by how great it turned out. Nice job!
Beautiful! Yours look wonderful. I do like meringues, so I wasn’t grumpy going into it, but I was sure grumpy leaving it, as you know.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one trying this recipe for the first time. I swapped out most of the alcohol as well because I didn’t have any and thought it turned out just as good.
I didn’t think I would like this one at all either, but it was SO good!
[…] could make a Vegetable Tian, maybe some Shrimp Scampi or maybe even some Italian Wedding Soup and Meringues Chantilly for dessert. It would be grand, I promise. We both love butter and cheese. Perhaps we could spoon […]