Rainbow Rippled Meringues Food

RASPBERRY-RIPPLE MERINGUE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Trace an 8-inch circle onto a piece of parchment paper. Turn over paper and place on a baking sheet. In a food processor, puree half the raspberries, 1 teaspoon sugar, and lemon juice until smooth. With a rubber spatula, press mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Discard solids and set sauce aside. In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar and cornstarch.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream of tartar, egg whites, and pinch of salt on high until foamy. Reduce speed to low and add sugar mixture in 3 additions, beating on high 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down bowl and beat on high until stiff peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add 2 tablespoons raspberry sauce to meringue, but do not stir. With rubber spatula, mound meringue (it will ripple as you scoop) onto prepared parchment on sheet, using circle as a guide.
• Bake meringue until crisp and dry on outside, about 1 hour 50 minutes. Turn off heat and let meringue dry in oven, 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack. To serve, gently peel meringue from parchment and transfer to a platter. Top with whipped cream and remaining raspberry sauce and raspberries.

LIGHTEST EVER MERINGUES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment and set up a piping bag with a medium-size star nozzle.
• In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until very stiff - the whites should stand in stiff, not floppy, peaks when the beaters are lifted out. Once you have reached this point, pour in roughly half the sugar and the vanilla extract and whisk again until the mixture becomes very thick, firm and shiny. Add the remaining sugar and whisk again until thick, firm and shiny. If you like meringues with soft, mallowy centres, just add 1 tsp cornflour and 1 tsp white wine vinegar to the mix along with the sugar.
• Carefully spoon the meringue into the piping bag. Push any air out of the top and tightly twist the end of the piping bag to seal. Gently squeeze until meringue is visible at the end of the nozzle, then begin piping onto your lined baking sheets. Pipe spiralling circles, about 6cm wide and 3 layers high - like you would ice a cupcake to make roughly 18. The meringues will spread slightly as they cook, so leave enough space between each one. Bake in the oven for 1 hr, turning the heat down to 120C/100C fan/gas ½ after 30 mins.
• Remove from the oven - they should peel easily away from the parchment - and cool on a wire rack. Can be made up to a week ahead and kept in an airtight container, or frozen for up to 3 months, between layers of parchment, in an airtight container.
• To make Cream & chocolate meringues for dessert, put 100g dark chocolate in a glass bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water. Carefully dip the base of each meringue in to coat, then place on their sides on a plate or tray to set. While the chocolate sets, whip 300ml double cream. Assemble the meringues in pairs and sandwich their chocolate bases together with a good spoonful of cream. Delicious served with ice cream, raspberry coulis or fresh berries.