Hazelnut Meringue Kisses Food

HAZELNUT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts until finely ground. In a medium heatproof bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, and pinch of salt. Set bowl over (not in) a pot with 2 inches simmering water and cook, whisking constantly, until warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and, using an electric mixer, beat mixture on high until thick and glossy, 3 minutes. With a rubber spatula, fold in hazelnuts.
• Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cracked on top, about 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let meringues cool to room temperature.

HAZELNUT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place hazelnuts in single layer on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F. for 10 minutes or until skins begin to loosen and hazelnuts turn golden brown.
• Remove hazelnuts from oven; place on towel. Wrap towel around hazelnuts; let stand 10 minutes. Rub hazelnuts with towel to remove as much skin as possible.
• In food processor bowl with metal blade, combine hazelnuts and powdered sugar. Process until fine powder forms. Set aside.
• Reduce oven temperature to 200°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In large bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer at medium speed until foamy. Beat in cream of tartar. Increase speed to high; beat until soft peaks form. Slowly beat in superfine sugar. Continue beating until egg whites are glossy and stiff. Beat in almond extract. Quickly fold in nut powder.
• Place meringue mixture in large decorating bag or resealable gallon plastic bag fitted with 1/2-inch open star tip. Pipe meringue into star shapes onto paper-lined cookie sheets.
• Bake at 200°F for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until crisp. Cool on cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until completely cooled. Gently remove from parchment paper.

HAZELNUT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Hazelnut powder:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly butter it, set aside.
• If hazelnuts are raw, toast them in the oven, and then rub the skins off in a clean, dry dishtowel. Blanch toasted hazelnuts in boiling water for 30 seconds and then immediately chill them in ice water. Squeeze the nuts through the skins.
• Grind the hazelnuts in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade with 5 ounces confectioners' sugar, until smooth and fine, approximately 10 to 15 seconds.
• Whisk together the hazelnut powder, 2 ounces confectioners' sugar, and flour lightly.
• In a standing mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed. When whites begin to foam, increase speed to high. When whites are at stiff peak, pour in the extra-fine sugar. Fold in dry ingredients in 3 additions.
• Pour meringue mixture into piping bag without a tip. Pipe teardrop shapes with 2-inch diameter bottoms onto prepared sheet pan.
• Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Meringues will puff and begin to burst when finished baking. Meringues will be crispy on the outside but soft in the middle.
• Serve immediately, or let cool and fill or top with ganache.
• In a small sauce pan heat the heavy cream, vanilla bean, and Frangelico to a simmer. Place chocolate into a metal bowl. Once the cream simmers, remove the vanilla bean and pour it over the chocolate, stir until smooth. Let it cool to room temperature. With a rubber spatula, scrape ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a medium size star tip, and pipe into Hazelnut Meringues.

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.

HAZELNUT MERINGUE SURPRISE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Butter and line the bases and sides of 2 x 20cm springform tins with baking parchment. Grind the hazelnuts and icing sugar in a food processor until fine. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add half the caster sugar and whisk again until stiff, then repeat with the rest of the caster sugar. Fold in the vanilla, vinegar and ground nut mixture until well combined. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25-30 mins until the tops are firm to the touch. Remove and cool in the tins on a wire rack. The meringues are very fragile and may crack a little, but don't worry.
• While the meringues cool, make the chocolate cream. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, then remove from the heat. Leave to cool slightly, then stir in the cream and leave to set in a cool place.
• Carefully remove the cooled meringues from the tins and put one layer onto a serving plate. Lightly crush half of the berries with a fork. Using a palette knife, spread half the chocolate cream over the meringue and spoon over the berries. Top with the remaining layer, then ice with chocolate cream and decorate with remaining berries. Chill until serving.

HAZELNUT MERINGUE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F (325F for a convection oven). Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
• For the meringue, beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff peaks form. Gradually beat in the sugar to make a stiff and glossy meringue. Fold in the vanilla extract, vinegar, cornstarch and ground hazelnuts.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared pans and level the surface. Scatter the chopped hazelnuts over the top of one, then bake in the over for 50 - 60 minutes, or until crisp. Turn out on a wire rack until cool.
• For the filling, stir the yogurt, whiskey and honey together in a bowl. Whip the cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form, then fold into the yogurt mixture together with the raspberries.
• Sandwich the two meringues together with the cream mixture, with the nut-topped meringue uppermost. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve in slices.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT KISSES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Scatter the hazelnuts in a baking pan and toast, gently shaking the pan once or twice to help the nuts toast evenly, until lightly browned and aromatic, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Turn off the oven.
• Transfer the nuts to the center of a lightly dampened kitchen towel, wrap the towel around the nuts, and rub the nuts around vigorously (but carefully, since they're hot) to remove as much of their skins as possible.
• Let the nuts cool completely.
• In a food processor, grind the cooled hazelnuts with the sugar until very fine.
• Add the cocoa powder, butter, honey, and vanilla.
• Pulse until well blended.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg whites with a fork to break them up a bit but not make them too frothy.
• Add about half of the egg whites to the processor and pulse a couple of times, then add the remaining egg white and pulse again.
• You're looking for a paste that's smooth but firm enough to hold its shape.
• Fit a pastry bag with a large plain or star tip and fill the bag with the dough.
• Line 2 heavy baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Squeeze a small dot of the dough under each corner of each paper lining to adhere it to the baking sheet (this will make piping easier).
• Squeeze dough onto paper in big rosettes or teardrop shapes, making each cookie about 1 1/2 inches across and with at least 1 inch between the cookies.
• Give the cookies a bit of height as you pipe.
• If you make them too flat, they'll be more crisp than chewy when baked.
• Let the cookies sit for 1 hour before baking.
• Reheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake the kisses until they are just set on the outside, about 8 minutes.
• The cookies will firm up as they cool and you want the insides to remain tender and chewy.
• Transfer the kisses to a wire rack to cool and serve soon, or store in an airtight container for a few days.
• Note: If you use a star tip, be sure that its points are open enough to avoid being blocked by the ground nuts.