Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Meringue Porcupines

Let  me say at the outset of this blog, that I cannot make meringue in any way, shape, or form. All previous attempts have been an abyssmal failure. I don't even know what stiff peaks look like. I have never seen them before. But Martha put a recipe in it for meringue, so by golly, if she can do it, so can I! I will not concede to failure! I put all the ingredients in my kitchenaid mixer exactly like they told me to. I beat the eggs at just the speed and the length that I was told. I almost started crying. Imagine the scene before me when I found stiff peaks of meringue formed at the bottom of the bowl. After I did my happy dance and sang "We Are the Champions", I scooped them on the paper on top of my cookie sheet. Using 2 large metal spoons work great for this. Then I made my porcupine quills by taking my offset spatula, dipping into the top of the meringue, and pulling it out. Only problem is, they  say to bake it at 200 degrees for 1 hour. They are supposed to crispy on the outside, but the consistency of marshmallow on the inside. I don't know if it is my oven, the elevation, or what, but it took a maddening 2 hours to bake! Then I made the almond cream, which isn't particulary sweet, just almondy. I had to indent the bottoms of the meringues to fit the cream into the indentation, and then slather the other side with apricot preserves. Then you may shmush them together. Pros: They looked beautiful, just like in the picture. They were a light cookie, but not too sweet. I liked them.
Cons: Ridiculously long baking time. It only makes a few cookies. If you don't eat them within 2 days, you have to throw them out. My father and husband decided that this is "interesting"' which is man translation for crap. Well I liked it and that is all that matters. So ha!

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