I was sitting on our porch the other day surrounded by the beauty of nature watching clouds go by. The clouds were big, white, fluffy and moving ever so slowly against the bluest sky I had seen in a while. Watching the clouds I started thinking about cotton candy, food in general then dessert.
Dessert. What kind of dessert could I make that reminded me of clouds? Meringue came to mind but the problem was that I wasn’t a lover of meringue. Whenever my mom made her delicious lemon meringue pie I would scrap off the meringue then eat the lemon filling and crust. The two textures of meringue, both crusty and squishy, just did not feel right in my mouth. After searching for a meringue alternative to crusty and squishy I ran across a recipe that called for baking the meringue and it looked light like a macaroon.
To make meringue the centerpiece of my dessert, I created mounds of sweetness that melted in your mouth. Then I added fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries that were slowly simmered until a simple syrup was rendered and the fruit was fragrant. Talk about heaven! Eating my Meringue Clouds reminded me of sitting on the porch watching the clouds go by surrounded by the sweetness of nature.
Meringue Clouds
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp water
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp lemon zest
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint blueberries
parchment paper
Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Place eggs whites in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Beat egg whites with vanilla and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add ¾ cup sugar 1 tbsp at a time on high speed until stiff peaks are formed.
Drop a large spoonful of meringue on to parchment paper or place in a piping bag and pipe onto parchment paper to create mounds. Meringue will spread so do not make the mounds too big. Bake for 45 minutes then turn off the oven and DO NOT open the oven door for 1-2 hours.
While the meringue is baking, place berries, water, lemon juice, zest and ¼ cup of sugar into a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Cook until berries begin to breakdown and a simple sugar is rendered.
Place a Meringue Cloud in the center of a bowl then drizzle the berries and juice around the Meringue Cloud.
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