Tuesday, December 4, 2012 | LangleyAdvance
Family Christmas RECIPE
Meringue made holiday special despite hard financial times
A
nne Marrison started making meringues when she kept chickens on a rural acreage and fed them mainly bran cooked with kitchen scraps from her big vegetable garden. “We let them roam the place in summer, fall, and winter, whenever the crops could handle chicken,” she said. “They ran fast enough to catch flies.” The family was very poor, but had lots of eggs, and meringues made nice Christmas gifts for very little money, she explained. “In those days, I always made meringues with a hand beater, and cooked them in an oil range, which also heated water for the bathroom. “One Christmas, we got a blow-back down the oil range chimney and a whole sheet of meringues that was out to cool turned black with soot,” Marrison recounted. “So did I.” “It was a tiny old house (650 square feet) built on tree trunks, and the back bedroom had been used to dry out mink skins. At night we could hear bits of wood falling from carpenter ants inside the walls. But we were young, healthy, thrilled to have a home of our own, and we had good neighbours,” she said. “We had some very happy Christmases in that little house.”
Upside-down meringues Ingredients: Parchment paper Tiny amount of vinegar 3 egg whites Pinch cream of tartar 1 cup icing sugar First I line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Then I wipe the bowl I’ll use with a paper towel wetted with vinegar. It’s important to make sure no trace of fat is left on the bowl. Next I crack three eggs very carefully. If any speck of egg yolk gets into the whites, the meringues won’t thicken properly. I dump the egg whites in the bowl and add a pinch of cream of tartar. This stabilizes the egg whites. Then I beat the whites with an electric
Advance columnist Anne Marrison shares her recipe for upside-down meringues, and a bit of its history.
beater until they’re thick. At that point I add about a tablespoon of icing sugar and beat some more. Then add another tablespoon of sugar and beat for another minute. Keep this up until all the icing sugar is used. When the whipped egg whites stand in stiff peaks and a small spoonful dumped on the cookie sheet holds its shape, the mix is ready for the cookie sheet. I spoon out a tablespoon per time and flatten the top of each. Some ovens are hotter than others. Mine is cooler than average. I set the temperature for 275ºF. My aim is to cook the meringues so they’re crisp all the way through, and I usually leave them in for two hours. People who like them soft in the middle or do tiny, teaspoon-size meringues won’t need to cook them as long. Topping 1 cup melted chocolate Pistachio nuts, chopped small or grated Melt enough chocolate chunks to brush over the meringues. Then sprinkle the chopped, grated, or ground pistachio nuts over the melted chocolate. Eat the meringues with the chocolate at the bottom. The hardened chocolate makes a kind of dish, and you avoid getting meringue crumbs all over your clothes. It seems expensive to buy a whole box of cream of tartar for one pinch – but I have been using the same box since the late 1960s, mainly because I’ve never figured out what else I can use cream of
tartar for. The quantity of icing sugar needs to be increased if the eggs are huge. Most fondue bowls can melt the chocolate if you allow enough time. Otherwise use a double boiler for melting. You can make meringues in all kinds of sizes and colours. They keep for many months in a tin at room temperature (if you hide them). – Anne Marrison Langley Advance garden columnist