Pecan Toffee Meringue With Mulled Pears Food

CHOCOLATE CHIP & PECAN MERINGUE BARS

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, cream butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, milk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Press into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan., With clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add remaining brown sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until brown sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until thick and glossy. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Spread over dough in pan., Bake on a lower oven rack until meringue is lightly browned, 25-30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Using a serrated knife, cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

ULTIMATE MERINGUE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 110C/ 100C fan/gas ¼.
• Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick liner or parchment paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).
• Tip 4 large egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.
• Now turn the speed up and start to add 115g caster sugar, a dessertspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It's important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later. However, don't over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy.
• Sift one third of the 115g icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don't over-mix. The mixture should now look smooth and billowy.
• Scoop up a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture. Using another dessertspoon, ease it on to the baking sheet to make an oval shape. Or just drop them in rough rounds, if you prefer.
• Bake for 1 ½-1 ¾ hours in a fan oven, 1 ¼ hours in a conventional or gas oven, until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour.
• Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.) Serve two meringues sandwiched together with a generous dollop of softly whipped double cream.

PECAN MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
• Beat egg white until stiff. Add brown sugar to egg white and beat until smooth. Fold pecans into mixture, using a large wooden spoon and stir until nuts are well coated. Drop by spoon onto un-greased cookie sheets. (About 2 pecan halves per spoonful).
• Bake until golden brown and meringue is completely dry - about 1 hour.

ENGLISH TOFFEE PECAN PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut in lard and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about the size of peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix lightly with a fork after each addition, until mixture is moistened. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface and shape into a flattened disk. Wrap in plastic; transfer to refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
• Lightly flour a pastry cloth and roll out dough on cloth, using a covered rolling pin, to a 12-inch round, about 1/8-inch thick. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off excess flour; fit dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Trim to a 1/2-inch overhang all around. Fold under and crimp edges.
• Make the filling: Preheat oven with a rack set in the lower third to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, almond extract, toffee bits, and chopped pecans.
• Pour filling into pie crust. Top with pecans by evenly spacing 14 of them around the outer edge of pie filling. Make a second row by evenly spacing seven pecans in a smaller circle in the center; place 1 pecan in center.
• Transfer pie to oven; bake for 20 minutes. Cover with parchment paper-lined aluminum foil and continue baking until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.