Soplillos Granadinos Moorish Almond Meringues Food

SOPLILLOS GRANADINOS (MOORISH ALMOND MERINGUES)

Steps:

• Put the egg whites in a bowl with a pinch of salt and whisk just until firm peaks form.
• Add the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking after each addition.
• Fold in the lemon zest, vanilla and almonds carefully so as not to lose volume.
• Fill the piping bag with the mixture.
• Pipe the meringue into mini (candy size) paper cups, you may set them in mini muffin cups or set straight onto the baking sheets.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 120°C (250°F) Gas 1/2 for 30 minutes.
• Increase the heat to 140°C (275°F) Gas 1 for a further 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, let cool on a wire rack and serve in their paper cases with a bowl of whipped cream.
• VARIATION: This mixture can be made into cookies or almendrados. Double the amount of almonds, and grind them to a fine powder in a spice grinder or coffee mill. Drop heaped teaspoons onto greased baking sheets and cook in a preheated oven at 140°C (275°F) Gas 1 for 15 minutes. They will be soft when they come out of the oven, but firm up when cold.
• NOTE: Vanilla paste is found in larger supermarkets, often in the gourmet food department. If you can't find it, use the seeds from 1 vanilla pod.

SGROPPINO (ITALIAN COCKTAIL)

Steps:

• Pour the Prosecco and vodka into 2 Champagne flutes, dividing equally. Spoon a scoop of sorbet into each flute. Sprinkle with mint and serve immediately.

ALMOND MERINGUES

Steps:

• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. While beating, gradually add the sugar and then continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in the almond extract.
• Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a star pastry tip and pipe 1-inch meringues onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1-inch apart. Bake until the meringues are no longer glossy and feel light and dry when picked up, about 1 hour. Turn off the oven but leave the meringues inside with the door cracked open until the meringues are completely cooled and dry, about 2 hours more. The meringues can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

ALMOND MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225°F.
• Beat whites with a pinch of salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until they hold soft peaks. Add 1/2 cup superfine sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat at high speed until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks, 1 to 3 minutes. Fold in remaining 1/4 cup sugar gently but thoroughly.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put a small dab of meringue on all 4 corners of each sheet, then turn paper over, pressing on corners to adhere parchment to baking sheets.
• Spoon meringue into pastry bag. You will be making 4 lattice cookies on each sheet, so work in 1 quadrant for each: Pipe 4 (4-inch-long) diagonal lines, about 5/8 inch apart, then pipe 4 (4-inch-long) parallel lines diagonally across original 4 lines, 5/8 inch apart, to form a lattice. Make 3 more lattice meringues on same baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle half of almonds over meringues. Pipe 4 more lattice meringues on second baking sheet in same manner, then sprinkle with remaining almonds.
• Bake meringues in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until crisp and pale golden, about 1 hour total.
• Cool meringues completely on sheets on racks, about 1 hour, then carefully peel from parchment.

SUGAR FREE ALMOND MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Chop almonds into small bits.
• Using an electric mixer beat egg whites, cream of tartar, almond extract and salt until the eggs form soft peaks. While continuing to beat, add Splenda one tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat for until eggs form stiff peaks.
• Sift cornstarch over and gently fold in the almonds into the egg mixture. Make sure you have a nice even distribution.
• To make the meringues, you can drop the batter in rounded tablespoons onto the parchment about one inch apart.
• Place baking sheets into the oven and bake one hour. Rotating cookie sheets front to back and . If one sheet is above the other in your oven (not side-to-side) then flip the sheets as well. Continue baking until the meringues are dry, about an additional hour.
• Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the meringues to completely cool before removing them from the parchment.
• Store in an air tight container for up to one week.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED ALMOND MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300*F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or wax paper.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt on high speed until soft peaks form.
• Continue mixing on high speed while adding 1/2 cup of the sugar. Add the remaining sugar by the tablespoon. Beat for another 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is stiff and shiny.
• Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold in the almonds. Drop the meringue batter by the spoonful onto the cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly with the back of a spoon.
• Bake until pale golden, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool.
• Place the chocolate in a heatproof container and melt it over a simmering pot of water. Remove the chocolate from the heat.
• Line two cookie sheets with fresh parchment or waxed paper. One at a time, dip the bottoms of the meringues into the melted chocolate, let the excess chocolate drain off and place the chocolate-dipped meringues on the prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the chocolate is set.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

MANDELMAKRONEN (ALMOND MERINGUES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat egg whites in a glass, metal, or ceramic bowl until stiff peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, while continuing to beat at high speed. Combine ground almonds and cinnamon in a bowl and fold into the egg white mixture with a spatula. Add more ground almonds if mixture is too runny.
• Use 2 teaspoons to place little mounds of almond mixture 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned and baked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

ALMOND MERINGUE WITH SUMMER BERRIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Scatter the almonds on a baking sheet and roast for 6-8 mins until golden. Very coarsely grind them in a small food processor, then set aside. Lower oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment.
• Beat the egg whites in a scrupulously clean mixing bowl until stiff peaks have formed. Tip in half the sugar and beat again until stiff peaks are formed once more. Using a metal spoon, deftly fold in the remaining sugar a spoonful at a time, followed by most of the almonds (keep a small handful back). Tip the meringue onto the lined sheet and spread it out quite roughly to a 20cm circle. Scatter over the reserved almonds. Bake for 20 mins, reduce the temperature to 140C/120C fan/gas 1, then bake for a further 40 mins. Let meringue cool in the oven with the door ajar or on the side as you wish.
• While the meringue is baking, and if you wish to add the glamour of a raspberry ripple to the cream, make a few spoonfuls of purée by pressing 125g of the raspberries through a sieve.
• When nearing the moment for assembly, whip the cream until soft and cloudy. Lightly ripple through about half, or more, of the raspberry purée through the cream. You can serve the rest separately on the side. Place the meringue upon a handsome dish. Spoon the whipped cream liberally over the meringue. Slice the strawberries in a random manner. Heap the berries atop the cream, and offer any remaining fruit separately. Sift over the icing sugar. Take to the table and take a bow.