Spiced Meringues With Coffee Soaked Prunes Food

CHAI MERINGUE DROPS

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 225 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the tea leaves from the tea bag. If the leaves are large, finely grind in a spice grinder. Mix the tea with the cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl.
• Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Beat in the cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat in the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and tea-spice mixture.
• Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip. Pipe 1 1/4-inch mounds about 1 inch apart on the prepared pans. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the meringues are dry enough to peel off the parchment easily, about 2 hours. Turn off the oven; leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying, about 1 more hour. Let cool completely on the pans.

SHABBAT COFFEE CAKE WITH RED WINE-SOAKED PRUNES

Steps:

• For the prunes: In a small pot, combine the prunes, granulated sugar, wine and cinnamon stick if using. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine reduces by about a quarter and the mixture becomes syrupy, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the prunes cool to room temperature. Transfer to a container, cover and refrigerate until you're ready to make the cake. (You can do this up to a week ahead of time and keep them chilled until ready to use.)
• For the streusel topping: Combine the flour, dark brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl. Break up any lumps of sugar with your hands, and then mix to evenly distribute all the ingredients. Add the melted butter and vanilla, and with a fork, gently mix the mixture together until large crumbles form. Use your hands and continue to gently mix until the topping is in crumbled bits ranging in size from a small marble to a lentil. Cover and place the streusel in the refrigerator to chill while you mix the cake.
• For the cake: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with a circle of parchment paper and then butter the bottom and sides with 1 tablespoon of the softened butter. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix in the salt and set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, cream together the remaining 7 tablespoons of butter with the granulated sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla seeds. I like to do this with a large, stiff spatula, or a wooden spoon, beating the mixture for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and mix to fully combine. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and gently fold them together until uniform. Last, add the sour cream and gently fold it through the batter until just combined. A few streaks is ok; you don't want to overmix it.
• Remove the prunes from the red wine syrup, straining off the liquid. Save the liquid for later! It's great drizzled on fruit or ice cream. Roughly chop the prunes and set aside.
• Transfer half of the batter to the prepared pan, and smooth it out into an even layer with a spatula. Add the chopped prunes in an even layer and then cover with the remaining batter, smoothing it out into an even layer. Remove the streusel from the fridge and gently break up any large clusters with your hands. Top the cake with the streusel crumbles in an even layer.
• Bake until set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs, 50 to 55 minutes.
• Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a heatproof surface for at least 1 hour. Release the outer ring of the springform pan, running a butter knife around the edges if the cake seems to stick in any areas. I like to leave the cake on the bottom round of the pan for easy serving.
• Place the coffee cake on a serving platter or cake stand and using a small, fine strainer, dust the powdered sugar all over the top of the cake. Slice and enjoy. Shabbat Shalom!

NEVER-EVER-FAIL MERINGUE

Steps:

• Blend cornstarch and cold water in a saucepan. Add boiling water, and cook until thick and clear. Cool completely.
• Beat egg whites till foamy. Gradually beat in sugar, beating until stiff and glossy. Add salt and vanilla, and slowly beat in cold cornstarch mixture. Beat quickly for several minutes. Spread meringue on filled, cooled 9-inch pie.
• Bake pie at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes until tips of meringue begin to brown.

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.