meringue

Chocolate Cream And Home Made Meringues

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c5On a regular basis when visiting my grandparents as a kid, at the end of the meal a big bowl was placed in the middle of the table. Being shorter then, all I could see above the rim of the bowl was a mound of whipped cream. I would squeal with joy and excitement—I knew exactly what was soon to be scooped out and placed in a bowl in front of me. Grandma’s chocolate cream. It’s the simplest thing. Not more than 5 minutes to throw together, then a few hours rest in the fridge. 

A velvety smooth, almost pudding like, chocolate. Not too sweet. Fluffy whipped cream is a must. The key ingredient to make this dessert complete: meringues. The sweetness and crunchiness brings it to a whole new level. We used to crush the meringues in our hand and carefully, like a calm snowfall, let the bits of meringue coat the chocolate and cream. Nostalgic much? You bet. Yum.

Jensc2

Chocolate Cream

3 tbsp corn starch

4 tbsp cacao

4 tbsp sugar

3 cups whole milk

1 tbsp vanilla essence

In a large sauce pan, mix together all the dry ingredients, then add the milk. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 3 min. Stir constantly.

Add vanilla. Stir and transfer to a bowl or individual dishes. Sprinkle the surface with sugar (to prevent skin forming on the surface). Let the mixture cool slightly then cover in plastic wrap and move to the fridge to let it set for at least 2 hours.

Meringues

Meringues Suisse – is a lovely and professional method of making meringues by beating an egg white mixture in a double boiler. It creates a less brittle meringue, useful when they are small and delicate. It also helps ensure the sugar is properly dissolved, to prevent a crunchy final product. 

 

4 egg whites

250 grams icing sugar (2 cups)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Half fill a medium sized saucepan with water and heat until simmering.

Separate the egg whites and place in a large metal bowl – preferably unlined copper. Rest the bowl over the simmering pan and begin whisking the eggs.

Combine the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, while whisking. Continue beating the eggs at high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has a glossy texture. Mix in the vanilla.

Pipe the mixture on parchment paper into your favourite shape. Bake in a very cool oven, less than 100°C, for 2 to 4 hours, depending on the size of meringue.

Serve with whipped cream and meringues. Serves 4c1c4c3

Budapest Roll

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b7I was quite spoiled growing up. Having a stay at home mom who baked and cooked everything from scratch had its perks. I’m sure I wasn’t always appreciative about it though. I mean, why couldn’t we have tasteless store bought loaves of bread like most of my friends? I do now, however, look back at it all with very fond memories and a lot of gratitude. Breads, cookies, cakes and jams as well as all kinds of food. One of my all time favourites and a real treat was “Budapestrulle”. A melt-in-your-mouth meringue and hazelnut roll with whipped cream and mandarins. Originally created by Swedish pastry chef Ingvar Strid in the 1950’s. It has, surprisingly, no resemblance to Hungary’s capital Budapest. It is quite easy to make although you might need to take a deep breath before rolling it up. I guarantee you will love it. In this recipe I have substituted the hazelnuts with almonds which works just as well.

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6 egg whites

1 1/3 cup sugar

150g ground almonds

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 cup whipping cream

2 cans mandarin oranges

Dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the sugar while beating the egg whites on low speed. With the use of a spatula, carefully fold in the ground almonds and vanilla with the egg whites. Spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 min, or until set. You can check by poking it with a toothpick. If it comes out dry, it’s ready. Move meringue and parchment paper to a drying rack and let cool completely. While meringue is cooling, drain the mandarin slices. They need to be fairly dry before being put on the cake.

Flip the cake upside down onto a new sheet of parchment paper. Carefully peel off the parchment paper (brush it with warm water if it doesn’t loosen). Spread the whipped cream over the bottom of the cake. Place the mandarin slices evenly on top of the cream.

Now comes the tricky part. The rolling. Don’t panic if it cracks or start to break. Place the long side of the cake in front of you and start rolling it. Don’t press too hard (you’ll end with an empty roll of meringue and a pile of whipped cream and mandarines in front of it if you do.) I find using the parchment paper helps the rolling ones you get started (hold on to the paper rather then the cake). Remember not to press too hard. Once rolled up make sure the edge of the roll is facing down.

Melt the chocolate and drizzle on top. A dusting of icing sugar is pretty as well. Cut diagonally in a zig-zag pattern so that you end up with triangular pieces.

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