Meringues in London!
I’m visiting London for the first time! We’re staying with friends outside of the city and it’s really beautiful. I’m hoping to try some of the local cuisine, but want to avoid anything involving offal. That seems like a good goal.
Last night I baked my first meringue with my friend Teresa. We followed a recipe from a grocery store here in the UK, Sainsbury’s. I’ve heard that meringues can be tricky, but ours turned out beautiful. Maybe is was a touch of beginner’s luck? Light and fluffy, yet crunchy! Between the meringues we sandwiched a lemon cream cheese and peaches. Apparently when you’re shopping in the UK, you can select the grade of produce quality you want. Level 1 is the best and the freshest, but it’s also the most expensive. Something like a level 3 is fine, but maybe not perfect and a little less expensive. These peaches were level 1. Delicious.
Although the meringues take a long time to bake (two hours), there wasn’t a lot of prep work involved. They’d be a perfect dessert to start before a dinner party and then quickly assemble after the meal. A really great choice for the final days of Summer!
Peach Meringues with Light Soft Cheese
4 egg whites
250 g. granulated sugar (sorry, i have no idea how many cups that is)
200 g. cream cheese
Zest of one orange
2 tbs. powdered sugar, sifted
2 peaches, washed and sliced
Preheat the over to 225 degrees. Place the egg whites in a dry glass bowl* and whisk until stiff. Add 1 tbs. of granulated sugar and continue to whisk until thick and glossy. Using a metal spoon, fold in the remaining sugar a little at a time until it’s all mixed in.
Line a baking tray with parchement to stop the meringue from sticking. Pipe or spoon round of meringue onto the parchment, spacing them out to prevent them touching as they bake. Place in the oven and cook for two hours, then turn off the oven and leave the meringues in there until they are cool.
Carefully remove the meringues from the parchment and store them in an airtight container until ready to fill.
To make the filling, mix the softened cream cheese with the orange zest and powered sugar. Use to sandwich the meringue together with a few slices of peach.
*The recipe offered these tips for beating the egg whites: Egg whites should be whisked in a bowl free from grease, a glass bowl is the best option. That being said, we used the kitchenaid fitted with a whisk and it turned out perfectly. Plus, we didn’t have to do ALL that whisking by hand!
Look at how beautiful those are!!
For those interested in converting between metric (grams) and imperial (ounces and pounds or cups etc) measure you can use this website: http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml which I find helpful. Have fun!