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MERINGUE-ING FOR BRI…Apricots this time!

“It is not the form that dictates the color, but the color that brings out the form.”
Hans Hofmann
French Meringues with Apricots n Cream
“From mangoes to melons, peaches to plums,onward I go…
… Merrily exploring summer fruits like I’ve never done before!”
Seems like renewed vengeance! Every time I see a seasonal fruit after the blog bug hit me, a million new avenues open up. From a cursory glance in the past, where a fruit came home, sat in the fruit basket & asked to be picked up…to now; ‘Is it time for dessert yet?; Can we have the new fruit please Mama?; Have never tried this fruit before!!; Ooooooh, what a pretty fruit!”. Even get obliging behaviour if I ask the little devils’ to chomp one out of the basket to see if they are sweet enough!! WooHoo…life’s certainly looking up. There’s loads more presence in the kitchen, the aromas can’t be hidden & life looks better somehow!
Comfortably sharing space with grapes from my father’s vine at home…yummy APRICOTS!!
Found these luscious looking apricots at the bazaar 2 days ago…& I thought just peaches were luscious. How wrong I was!! These were ripe, orange & dripping with juice. Far easier to skin & pit as compared to peaches too. Am already feeling better after losing my precious pictures…

Quick Facts on Apricots
No saturated fat, sodium, or cholesterol
Low fat
High in vitamins A and C
Good source of potassium.
Make Apricots Part of Your 5 A Day Plan

‘MERINGUE-ING FOR BRI’
Bri in my thoughts…my entry for Click June 2008
A special edition…YELLOW FOR BRI @ Jugalbandi
Making this dessert was inspirational because I had Bri on my mind…so there had to be some yellow. So I sprinkled some yellow sugar crystals all over the unbaked meringue, the syrup showed up in a faint yellow…& of course my yellow Cosmos flowers from the garden! This was even fun because I made my first gallant attempt at making meringues (after my macaroons all but floated away & I swore never to look at egg whites again!!). Opened the ‘Le Cordon Blue Cook’s Bible’ my friend sent me……hmmm; spoilt for choice! Italian meringues, Swiss meringues, French meringues? Went for French because they appeared to be the simplest…& they did work well. Will definitely try the Italian ones next time!

Crisp & airy…..Meringues

Meringue is a type of dessert made from whipped egg whites and caster sugar. Some meringue recipes call for adding a binding agent such as cream of tartar or the cornstarch found in confectioner’s sugar. Meringues are often flavoured with vanilla and a small amount of almond or coconut extract. They are very light and airy and extremely sweet. The notion that meringue was invented in the Swiss town of Meiringen by an Italian chef named Gasparini is contended. Typically, two whipped egg whites and 113g (4oz) of caster sugar are what compose a single batch cooked meringue.

I’ve dreamt long of making this meringue nest, neatly piped edges, with silken Chantilly cream piped inside & pretty fruit topping it. A drizzle of chocolate, a dusting of sugar…a dream! My first attempt didn’t exactly roll out as perfectly as my dream because the monsoons hit us 2 weeks before time (first time in 108 years; is there a deeper meaning to all this?). After getting all ingredients to room temperature etc, I read that meringues are best made in dry weather, never humid! At 80% humidity, I threw caution to wind & marched ahead. Obviously didn’t manage the dreamy nests, but got yummy crunchy meringues, crisp like no ones business; they even peeled off the foil! What fun…& a huge relief!

The precious fruit behaved perfectly like the book said it would…blanched & plunged, peeled & pitted, sliced & chilled…a breeze.

Recipe time now… First the French Meringue
Ingredients:
Egg whites -4 (at room temperature)
Powdered sugar - 1 cup
Almond essence - 1 tsp
Yellow sugar for sprinkling…
Method:

  • Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. (Make sure the whites are at room temperature, show no traces of yolk, the beater & bowl is clean of any fat etc….squeaky clean).
  • Beat in half the sugar & almond essence.
  • By hand, beat in the rest of the sugar till well incorporated & stiff. (Here’s where I went wrong in my exuberance. I beat in the other half too; maybe that’s why I lost out on a firm meringue mix).
  • Pipe out 3″ circles on a foil lined baking sheet, leaving room around each for a little spreading. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 100 degrees C for 1 hour. Then switch off the oven & leave them sitting in there for another hour until completely cool & dry.
  • Peel off the foil very carefully. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Onto the Apricots then…
Ingredients:
Ripe Apricots - 250gms (reserve one for garnishing)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (I used vanilla sugar, which I made thanks to Rachel @ Tangerines Kitchen who was very nice to mail me some vanilla beans)
Mint leaves - a generous handful
Pits of apricots, peaches…(these give a nice bitter-sweet edge to the apricots)
Whipped Cream, 1 apricot & mint leaves for serving

Method:

  • Bring a pan of water to boil. Keep a bowl of chilled water ready. Drop the apricots into boiling water for 10 seconds only, & them immediately plunge into a bowl of chilled water.
  • Peel, pit & slice the fruit. Reserve the pits.
  • Boil about 1 cup of water + 1/2 cup sugar with the pits & mint leaves. Simmer for 15 minutes, & then cool completely. Remove the pits, pour the syrup over the fruit & chill for at least 4-5 hours. (I did this the previous day & left the fruit to chill overnight with the mint leaves left in. The flavours matured very well. )
  • Drain the slices in a sieve, pick out & throw the mint & reserve the syrup.
  • Boil the syrup down to a third to get a nice thickish sauce. It will thicken like honey as it cools…& tastes finger-licking good. The son begged me for more…no, I didnt relent!!
    To assemble…
  • Lay a meringue on a platter. Put a dollop of cream on it. Top it with apricot slices. Drizzle the sauce, add a sprig of mint & serve.

“A-meringue-ing we will go
we’ll catch a little fruit &
Make it look real cute
And never let it go!!”

Cosmos means an ordered, harmonious whole….words that suit the flower perfectly! COSMOS is flourishing in our garden these days. The colour of cosmos, the flower, YELLOW, shines with optimism, enlightenment, and happiness. Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future. Yellow will advance from surrounding colors and instill optimism and energy as well as spark creative thoughts.

All the very best to you Bri! (read more about Bri HERE)

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Blog Event, Blogging for Bri, Click, Dessert, Fruit, Yellow. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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