Meringues with White Chocolate Mousse
It is one of the most beautiful desserts for parties. It’s light, airy, and fresh, with an irresistible taste and texture. Everyone will be asking you to share the recipe! These beautiful little meringue nests are both crunchy and soft, and once bitten into, they will melt in your mouth. Make them large or mini, and fill them with anything you want.
It has a crisp meringue crust but is soft, creamy, and light on the inside. Traditionally, it is served as one large cake, but it’s perfect for serving as minis.
It takes its namesake from the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, but the origin of the dessert is disputed between New Zealand and Australia. Either way, it is a popular dessert across the world.
Growing up, I didn’t really love meringues and found them too sweet, but that all changed once I found out that there are different versions of meringue such as pavlova, flavored meringues, and filled meringue nests, also known as meringue shells.
Meringue is made with very few ingredients. Egg whites and sugar are a must, and the rule of thumb is to use 1/4 cup of sugar for every egg white. The addition of cream of tartar is optional, but I recommend it as it helps in stabilizing the meringue and reaching its full volume. However, if you want to substitute it, you can use lemon juice, white wine vinegar, or even a pinch of salt.
How is meringue made?
Before you start, make sure that the bowl and beaters are clean and grease-free. Grease prevents the egg whites from whipping up properly, so it’s very important that everything is perfectly clean.
Beat the egg whites on medium-low speed until they start to get foamy, then add cream of tartar. Keep beating until soft peaks just start to form. That’s the time to start adding sugar and increasing your mixer speed. Adding sugar by the spoonful is a process that takes a few minutes, and then you’ll need to keep beating until the sugar fully dissolves into the meringue and stiff peaks form. You can rub a bit of meringue between your thumbs to check if it’s gritty or smooth. If gritty, keep beating.
Is it ready yet?
Meringues require a long baking time at a low temperature. They are usually ready once they appear dry and are easily lifted from the parchment paper with their bases intact. Sometimes, though, especially for large meringues, it’s hard to know if the center has baked properly. It’s ok if it’s quite soft and marshmallow-like, but it shouldn’t be sticky like gum. If you don’t care how white your meringues are, you can slightly increase the temperature and bake for less tim
Ingredients
Makes about 1 dozen
6 egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar , or 1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 drops red food coloring (optional) to give a pretty color to the meringue. I didn’t use it this time but its lovely option.
100gms white chocolate
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Garnish: fresh raspberries, fresh mint
Instructions
Preheat oven to 90*C. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Before you start, make sure that your mixer bowl is extra clean and not greasy, as that would prevent the egg whites from reaching their full volume. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue whisking until soft peaks start to form.
Then, while mixer is running, add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, and increase mixing speed to medium-high. Go slowly. Adding the sugar and continuing to beat may take 5-10 minutes. The meringue is ready once stiff peaks form, it’s glossy and completely smooth but not dry, and the sugar is fully dissolved. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure that no sugar is sticking.
Transfer meringue to the piping bag. To prevent the parchment paper from sliding, pipe a little of the meringue on the underside of each corner of the paper and ‘stick’ it to the pan. Pipe a 5 cm (or any other size you want, depending on how big or small you want them) round spiral base on the prepared baking sheet, and without lifting the tip, pipe 2-3 circles on top of the outer edge to create a nest.
Bake for 60 minutes. Turn oven off (do not open oven door), and leave meringues in oven overnight.
In a large bowl, beat heavy cream with a mixer at medium speed until thick and forms peaks. In a separate bowl melt the white chocolate on a double boiler. Once it cools, add the sour cream and melted chocolate to the whipped cream…Mix well making sure all is incorporated well. Cover and refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Spoon the mousse mixture into center of meringues. Garnish with raspberries and mint, and if desired sprinkle some cocoa powder.
Serve and enjoy
