Saturday, May 5, 2018

Basketweave Meringues with Freeze Dried Raspberries & Peaches


Hi sweet followers!! Hope your weekend is going well! I've
been in the kitchen baking meringues today! I thought it
would be fun to use my basketweave tip to pipe out some
meringues that I flavored with freeze dried raspberries
and peaches! They turned out really cute!!

I made 2 batches of basic brown sugar meringues recipe, then
added one package of freeze dried raspberries to one batch and
one package of freeze dried peaches to the other batch. The 
raspberry meringues had fantastic flavor and color. The peach 
meringues were yummy too, but the package was smaller than the 
raspberries so there wasn't quite as much flavor. I also added a 
bit of food coloring to create a peach color.

I used Ateco tip #898 to pipe the meringues. Just make sure to 
hold the piping bag so that the "teeth" are on top (as shown
above) while piping. I piped my meringues about 2 1/2" long,
then baked them at 225F for 2 hours.

These meringues are just delicious!! They stay nice and 
crisp in an airtight container for at least a week, probably 
longer!

The meringues are fantastic alone, but add whipped
cream and berries and they are superb!!  

For the filling I wanted something other than simply
whipped cream, so I tried adding cream cheese to the heavy 
cream, then I tried mascarpone and heavy cream. I liked the 
mascarpone best because it produced a silky filling and 
was easier to pipe. Then I added a bit of pink natural food 
coloring that I just discovered and I really liked the color.


RASPBERRY & PEACH MERINGUES

Ingredients for 1 Batch:

4 large egg whites (room temp)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
freeze dried raspberries or
freeze dried peaches 

For the filling:

1 cup heavy Cream
1/4 cup mascarpone 
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon McCormick "Berry" 
powdered food coloring (or you can
just add your own pink food coloring)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. and line
2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Process desired freeze dried fruit in a 
food processor. Use a fine mesh sifter to 
strain out any seeds.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk
attachment beat egg whites until foamy
(about 30 seconds), add cream of tartar and 
salt and beat until meringue forms soft peaks.
Add brown sugar 2 tablespoons at a time until 
incorporated.  Add freeze dried fruit (and food 
coloring now, if desired.) Turn mixer to high and 
whip mixture to stiff peaks. 

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with
a basketweave tip. (I used Ateco tip #898)
Pipe meringues about 2 1/2 inches long spacing 
them 1 inch apart.  Bake for one hour, then 
rotate the baking sheets and continue to bake
for one more hour. I left my meringues in the
oven for another 30 minutes after turning the
oven off. Remove from oven, let cool on baking 
sheet, then immediately place in an airtight 
container. Makes 3 dozen meringues.

To make Meringue Stacks:

Beat together filling ingredients to stiff peaks,
then fill a piping bag fitted with an open star tip
with some of the filling. Place 3 meringues side by 
side on a baking sheet, ridges side up. Begin 
piping the filling on one meringue moving
 from side to side until cookie is covered with 
filling. Next, pipe filling on second meringue and 
gently place on top of the first. Top with the third 
meringue. Pipe a small swirl of filling on top and 
add a small sugar flower or an edible flower if 
desired. Keep repeating this process until all 
meringues are used. Place on a pretty 
cake stand and serve immediately.

I also made these using Ateco tip #846.
So cute!!
Happy Baking!!




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