Tag Archives: raspberries

Meringue Clouds

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Check out my dessert at rantingchef.com Diced! Day of Eating Contest.  Vote for my Meringue Clouds recipe.  Voting ends on 10/9/15.IMG_9458_1

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Lemon Berry Parfait

Desserts, , , ,

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Light and refreshing is how I would describe Lemon Berry Parfait. I wanted to make a quick summer dessert that would be tasty on the lips and not too much on the hips. Summer is a great time to find all kinds of berries. My family use to grow raspberries and strawberries when I was growing up so I love to mix them in salads and desserts. Fruit helps to brighten up certain dishes and also makes them a little bit healthier.

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Lemon curd. The first time I asked for lemon curd at the grocer the clerk looked at me like I had too heads. Not many folks know what lemon curd is or how to use it. I became familiar with lemon curd only because my mom is a wonderful chef and has made fantastic desserts over the years and sometimes used lemon curd. Lemon curd reminds me of lemon pudding but has a more intense taste of lemon. Plus, the consistency is a little thicker than lemon pudding. I added lemon curd to Greek yogurt and mascarpone cheese to create a rich flavor of lemon and subtle tartness to the parfait.

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Parfaits are all about layering.  Lemon Berry Parfait consists of layers of Greek yogurt, berries soaked in limoncello and granola.  Pull them all together and you will have a light, bright, refreshing dessert that takes only minutes to create.

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Lemon Berry Parfait

Ingredients:
16 oz Greek yogurt
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blackberries
10 oz jar Dickinson’s lemon curd
2 tbsp sugar
½ cup limoncello liqueur
½ cup granola

Place berries in a medium bowl and add limoncello liqueur and sugar. Gently smash berries and then stir to mix sugar and limoncello. Set aside.

In a large bowl add yogurt, mascarpone cheese and lemon curd. Mix together until well blended.

Place two spoonfuls of yogurt mix in the bottom of a parfait glass. Add a layer of fruit then granola. Repeat each layer ending with fruit. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 – 3 hours before serving.