Meringues Chantilly -- Barefoot Bloggers

This was such a fun recipe to try for Barefoot Bloggers, thanks to BMK of Reservations Not Required who picked Ina Garten's Meringues Chantilly for us to make this week!

Meringues Chantilly

6 extra - large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur, recipe follows
Stewed berries, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 6 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheets.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a large pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy. Add 1 cup of the sugar and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks.

Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large star - shaped pastry tip, pipe a disc of meringue inside each circle.

Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.

Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.

Spread some of the sauce from the stewed berries on each plate. Place a meringue on top and fill with whipped cream. Top with berries and serve.

Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur:
2 cups (1 pint) cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur

Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla and orange liqueur and continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. Don't over beat, or you'll end up with butter!

Stewed berries:
1 half-pint fresh blueberries
3 half-pints fresh raspberries, divided
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons framboise (raspberry brandy)

Combine the blueberries, one-half pint of raspberries, 1/3 cup water, the sugar and zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. The juice will become a syrup and the berries will be slightly cooked. Off the heat, stir in the remaining raspberries and the framboise. Set aside.

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Results and Changes: Wow, these were wonderful! I was surprised how much I enjoyed them! I halved the recipe, and used a smaller star tip to pipe the meringue nests. This was so much fun! I used just strawberries in the berry sauce, which worked out fine taste wise, but they cooked down a little too much so it's not as pretty as it should be. I was nervous about so many things with this recipe, baking on the exopat, the piping, getting the proper peaks in my egg whites. Amazingly it all turned out and I have these beautiful meringue nests that reminded me of Seafoam Candy from my childhood that I haven't had in ages. :) I think that since I used the wrong size tip I should have baked these only 1 hour 45 minutes instead of two hours because of the thinner piping, the meringues were so pretty all through while I was peeking through the oven window and just before the timer went off at two hours they browned a little. Oh-well. You can see that in the before and after photos below.

Close-up...

I was so happy to give this recipe a try, and even though I at first thought it was a little intimidating, in the end this turned out to be pretty easy and an impressive dessert :)