Bittersweet Chocolate Walnut Meringue Kisses Food

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch springform pan.
• Place a large heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bowl. Put the butter and chocolate in the bowl, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate melts. Take the bowl off the heat and set aside.
• First, whisk the sugar into the chocolate mixture, then whisk in the eggs, coffee, and salt, whisking until the mixture is combined and smooth. Sprinkle on the flour and fold it in with a rubber spatula until it's incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place it on a sheet pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (see Cook's Note), until the top puffs up and cracks and the cake doesn't wobble when you jiggle the pan. (A toothpick will not come out clean.) Remove from the oven and cool completely on a baking rack. The cake will deflate as it cools. Run a small knife around the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Cut the cake in wedges and serve warm or at room temperature with sweetened whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or crème fraîche.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE TART WITH MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• For the pastry: Add the flour, butter, sugar and salt to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and the butter pieces are in small chunks. Add the egg yolk and mix until just combined and beginning to stick together, 15 seconds maximum.
• Remove the dough from the mixer and shape it into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 2 round discs about 5 inches each and lay them over two 4 1/2-inch mini fluted tart tins. Press the dough into the edges, trim off the excess, prick the bottoms in several places with a fork and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C/350 degrees F. Line the pastry with parchment and fill with dried beans. Bake until the pastry edges are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans, brush the pastry with the egg yolk and bake until the base of the pastry is golden brown, about 5 minutes more. Let cool.
• For the meringue kisses: Preheat the oven to 100 degrees C/210 degrees F.
• Add the egg whites, vinegar and cream of tartar to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until they begin to get frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. As soon as they are frothy, increase the speed to high and slowly add the sugar a teaspoon a time. Keep whisking until you have added all the sugar and the meringue is stiff and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes more.
• Add some food coloring to the end of a toothpick and run it along the inside of a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
• Place the meringue in the piping bag and pipe small dollops roughly 1/2 inch in diameter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake the meringues until they are no longer glossy, have a matte finish and feel light and airy, about 40 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the meringues to cool inside with the door closed for 20 minutes. (Makes 30 to 40 meringues.)
• For the chocolate filling: Add the chocolate, butter, cream and sugar to a heat-proof bowl and place it over (but not in) a saucepan pan of simmer water. Gently stir together until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Pour the mixture into the cooked pastry shells and chill in the fridge for 40 minutes.
• For the assembly: Place 8 to 10 meringues on top of each chocolate tart. Reserve the remaining for another use. Decorate with some sliced raspberries and basil leaves.
• If left to chill in the fridge overnight, allow the tarts to sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

MERINGUES, CHOCOLATE WALNUT

Steps:

• Directions
• 1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• 2. In a medium, clean, grease-free bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and whip until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually, whipping until stiff but not dry peaks form. Beat in vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by generously rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
• 3. Bake until completely firm and dry, but still white, about 25 minutes; you should be able to lift cookies from pan. Slide parchment onto racks to cool cookies completely.

MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in a large clean dry bowl with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until thick and opaque, about 1 more minute. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, and beat until stiff shiny peaks form, about 5 more minutes.
• Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe about seventy 1-inch drops on the baking sheets, pulling the bag up to form a peak; leave space between each. Bake at 250 degrees F until dry and crisp, about 3 hours. Let cool completely on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container in a dry place for up to 1 week.
• Combine the white chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Dip the bottoms of the meringues into the white chocolate, then dip in red sanding sugar; let set on parchment.

MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment. In a small bowl, mix both sugars together. In another small bowl, mix the jam with enough food colouring to create a vibrant red colour.
• In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, using electric beaters or a tabletop mixer. Add about a third of the sugar, whipping for 1 min or so, until stiff and glossy. Gradually add the remaining sugar until you have a glossy meringue that holds stiff peaks.
• Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/ gas 1/2. Turn your pastry bag inside out and, using a spoon, paint three lines of coloured jam from the top to almost the end of the bag. Fill with the meringue mix and twist the end to close.
• Holding the bag vertically over the tray, apply enough pressure to create a base, then quickly draw the bag upwards to create little points. The jam will give the meringues a stripy pattern as they pass through the bag.
• Bake in the oven for 1 hr or until the meringues sound hollow when you lift one and tap the base - they should have a crunchy shell and not be too chewy. Leave to cool in the oven with the door closed, then store in a plastic food bag or airtight container until ready to use.

CHOCOLATE-PEANUT MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium heatproof bowl, combine egg whites, confectioners' sugar, and pinch of salt. Set bowl over (not in) a pot of barely simmering water and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is warm and frothy and sugar is dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and, using an electric mixer, beat mixture on high until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla, then fold in peanuts and chocolate. Transfer mixture to a quart-size zip-top bag; with scissors, cut a 3/4-inch hole in one corner.
• Pipe 30 mounds (1 inch tall and 1 1/2 inches wide), 1 inch apart, on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake, using the handle of a wooden spoon to keep oven door slightly ajar, until dry to the touch, about 20 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack before peeling off parchment.

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Grease three cookies sheets and dust with cocoa powder.
• Melt the chocolate square and set aside to cool.
• Beat the egg whites with salt until soft peaks form.
• Add sugar slowly and beat until mixture very stiff and shiny.
• Fold in vanilla, melted chocolate, and the 1 tbsp cocoa powder.
• Drop by heaping teaspoonfulls (2 inches apart) onto prepared cookie sheets.
• They will have the shape of chocolate kisses.
• Bake 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove cookies from sheets immediately.
• Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

VANILLA MERINGUE KISSES (WITH OPTIONAL CHOCOLATE BITS OR NUTS)

Steps:

• Beat the ingredients until stiff peaks form.
• spoon onto a foil covered cookie sheet (or pipe to make them look pretty).
• Bake at 200° for 2 hours.
• leave in oven for at least 2 additional hours (until completely cool) I often leave them overnight.
• Carefully peel off foil and store in an airtight container.
• Variations: fold in 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts or bittersweet chocolate. (note- these will not hold their shape as well, they do taste yummy, but tend to lose some of the airiness).
• additional option: dip the nut version in melted chocolate once cooked.

HAZELNUT MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225°F. and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit a large pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip.
• In a bowl with am electric mixer beat whites with cream of tartar and salt until they just hold soft peaks. Add sugar in a stream and beat in vanilla and espresso and cocoa powders, beating until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks.
• Working quickly, fold ground hazelnuts into meringue gently but thoroughly and fill pastry bag with meringue. Pipe 42 dots (each about 1/2 teaspoon) of meringue onto parchment 1/2 inch apart and top each dot with a whole hazelnut (meringue dots will anchor nuts). Pipe meringue over hazelnuts, encasing them, to form cookies about 1 inch wide and 1 3/4 inches high.
• Bake cookies in middle and lower third of oven, switching positions of baking sheets halfway through baking, 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until meringue os form on the outside and pale golden (cookies will fall during baking). Remove parchment with cookies from baking sheets and cool on racks (cookies will continue to crisp as they cool). Carefully peel cookies off parchment.
• In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth, and remove from het. Dip top half of each cookie in melted chocolate, transferring cookies, chocolate sides up, to a wax-paper-lined tray. Chill cookies until chocolate is hardened, about 15 minutes. Cookies keep, arranged in layers between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container and chilled, 5 days.

MERINGUE KISSES & ICICLES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas ½. Line two-three baking sheets with parchment. Beat the egg whites until they are foamy and doubled in size. Add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, while you continue to whisk. The meringue will become thick and glossy and should hold up in stiff peaks on the beaters when it is ready.
• For the meringue kisses, fit a disposable piping bag with a 1cm round or star nozzle. Hold it vertically to the baking sheet and gently squeeze, pulling the bag up and away to make a peak. If you are making frosty icicles, make some meringue dots as well.
• For colour-striped meringues, fit a disposable piping bag with a round nozzle, paint red food colouring paste in stripes onto the inside of the bag, then fill with meringue and pipe as before. Bake for 1 hr. Once cool, you can drizzle some of the meringues with melted chocolate and sprinkle with edible glitter or lustre powder, if you like.
• For the icicles and snowflakes, scoop the meringue into a disposable piping bag and snip off a tiny opening. Pipe spiky icicle shapes onto the trays, making them thicker one end and thin at the other. Pipe crossed lines to make snowflakes.
• Bake for 50 mins, then leave to cool on the tray for a few mins, then carefully loosen them off the parchment. Sprinkle with edible glitter or lustre powder, if you like. If left to cool completely, they may stick and break when you try to lift them off. If you are storing these, leave to cool completely, then layer in an airtight container between pieces of baking parchment. Now use the meringue kisses to make our white chocolate, orange & cranberry Christmas cake.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE WALNUT MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Let egg whites stand in large bowl at room temp. 30 mins. Preheat oven to 300. Line cookie sheet parchment paper or lightly greased foil.
• Beat egg whites and cream of tarter on med. to high speed until soft peaks form[tips curl]. Gradually add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until glossy anf stiff peaks form[tips stand straight]. fold in 1/4 cup of the chocolate and 1/4 cup of the nuts.
• Drop meringue in 6 mounds 2 in. apart on prepared sheet. Using back of spoon, swirl the top of each meringue into a high tip that curls.
• Place meringues in oven, immediately decrease oven temp to 200. Bake 1 1/2 hours or until crisp and dry on outsides. Cool completely on sheet on a wire rack.Gently peal cooled meringues of paper or foil. Sprinkle w/ remaining chocolate & nuts. Serve.
• TO STORE: Store in an airtight container at room temp up to 24 hours.