test cook
Kit Wohl is a cookbook author and photographer. These recipes are available for anyone who would like to take them out for a test cook run. "Cooking is an art and a form of creative expression," she says. "Food is distinctive in form, color, texture, and flavor. The selection, preparation, and presentation of a meal are as creative as any art project. Best of all, it nurtures both the body and the spirit."Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Linda Jane’s
Meringue Kisses
Meringue kisses are bite-sized clouds that dissolve on the tongue, and just one kiss is never enough. To form the kiss, two pieces of a baked meringue-like candy are married together, using flavored butter-cream icing. Mocha-flavored chocolate is exquisite, vanilla subtle, and lemon or lime sweetly tart. Your imagination will lead you down the correct path.
Meringue was a traditional winter treat in New Orleans, where hot humid summers prevented the dessert from setting up properly; however, with the advent of air-conditioning, it is now made and enjoyed all year long.
Yield: 24 small meringues
Preheat the oven to 200ºF
4 large egg whites
8 ounces superfine (or S&W Bakers) sugar
1 cup flavored butter-cream icing
Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Keep whisking as you slowly add the sugar.
When the mixture is stiff and glossy, put it in a piping bag with a star nozzle. Squeeze out little rosettes (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter) onto a cookie sheet lined with non-stick parchment.
Put the meringues in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Testing the meringue with the tip of your finger for firmness. Once removed from the oven and cooled, they will continue to harden.
Select a butter-cream recipe (on p. XXX). When the meringues are cool, take one in your hand and spread icing on the flat side. Join it to the flat side of another meringue. Continue until all the meringues have a mate. Serve immediately. Otherwise, store in a tightly covered container and refrigerate. Humidity wreaks havoc with the meringue. They will keep for four or five days however; there probably won’t be any left to store.
Preheat the oven to 200ºF
4 large egg whites
8 ounces superfine (or S&W Bakers) sugar
1 cup flavored butter-cream icing
Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Keep whisking as you slowly add the sugar.
When the mixture is stiff and glossy, put it in a piping bag with a star nozzle. Squeeze out little rosettes (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter) onto a cookie sheet lined with non-stick parchment.
Put the meringues in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Testing the meringue with the tip of your finger for firmness. Once removed from the oven and cooled, they will continue to harden.
Select a butter-cream recipe (on p. XXX). When the meringues are cool, take one in your hand and spread icing on the flat side. Join it to the flat side of another meringue. Continue until all the meringues have a mate. Serve immediately. Otherwise, store in a tightly covered container and refrigerate. Humidity wreaks havoc with the meringue. They will keep for four or five days however; there probably won’t be any left to store.
Linda Ellerbee is an honorary Orleanian, who lived in a Pontalba apartment with a friendly ghost while she wrote her best seller And So It Goes.
She returns often to wander through the French Quarter, explore restaurants and dine with friends. Cooking is one of her great pleasures, exceeded only by the appreciation of a fine meal prepared by someone else.
She got this recipe from Mary Brunner, a caterer in Llanidloes, Wales, who prepared it for the rehearsal dinner preceding her son’s wedding there. It was a three-day spectacular that began with a candle accidentally setting fire to the bride’s hair the night before the wedding, and it concluded with a fireworks show staged over the rolling hills of Wales the night of the wedding.
As an Orleanian habit, we adopt recipes from other countries and adapt them to our tastes. This one was readily embraced and continues to be a favorite. Linda published her version in another best seller, Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table, and of course, we have modified it for our own purposes.
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