Chocolate Almond Meringues

Chocolate Almond Meringues

I’ve not blogged for a while, but it’s not for lack of baking, just lots of other things going on that have kept me from the keyboard. Hopefully I’ll be able to get lots of recipes added in a short space of time to make up for it.

To kick things off, here are some lovely meringues I made when I was cooking dinner for friends recently. I served them with good vanilla ice cream, warm mixed berries (just a bag of frozen ones from the supermarket, heated through with a couple of tablespoons of sugar), salted caramel sauce and chocolate hazelnut sauce. Meringues are great for entertaining as you can make them several days in advance and (once cooled) store them in an air tight container or tin.

Chocolate Almond Meringues

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 200g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
• 30g dark chocolate, finely grated
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vinegar (I used cider vinegar, but white wine or sherry vinegar would be fine)
• 100g flaked almonds, toasted

Heat the oven to 180C and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper (when the meringue is made, used little blobs of it to secure the paper to the baking trays). Using a stand mixer or electric hand whisk, whisk the egg whites until you get to the stiff peak stage. Still whisking, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, allowing the sugar to get completely incorporated before adding more. Continue to whisk until all the sugar is mixed in and the meringue is white and glossy.

Add the cocoa and dark chocolate, folding in with either a rubber spatula or large metal spoon. DO NOT use a wooden spoon or other blunt kitchen tool as you’ll lose too much of the air you’ve spent so long adding. You can be quite swift and firm when folding in, but make sure you don’t leave any pockets of dry ingredient unmixed. Sprinkle over the cornflour, vinegar and toasted almonds and fold these through. Dollop mounds on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a little space between as they will spread and settle a little.

Pillowy mounds of glossy meringue

Place the meringues in the oven and turn the temperature down immediately to 150C. Bake for 45-50 minutes. The meringues will be crisp on the outside, possibly even a little cracked, with a chewy, marshmallowy middle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool and use the same day, or you can store them in an airtight (and completely dry) container for 3 or 4 days.

Crisp outer shell with a chewy, marshmallowy centre

To make an easy chocolate sauce, heat 300ml double cream to just below boiling, break in 150g milk chocolate (or a mix of milk and plain) and stir until melted. Add a tiny pinch of salt and, if you have it, a tablespoon or two of liqueur (I used hazelnut, but orange, mint, brandy or Baileys would all be perfect). Allow to cool to room temperature. Pour over almost anything for instant deliciousness!

If you want to make your own salted caramel sauce, I swear by Nigella Lawson’s recipe and you can find it here. And if you want more meringue goodness, take a look at my other recipes.

Amaretti Biscuits

If you follow my Facebook page you may have seen that I’ve been a bit obsessed with baking bread this week (currently on my fourth bake in a week from James Morton’s Brilliant Bread book). As I’ve been baking other people’s recipes, my lovely friend and fellow Brighton Baking Bunch member, Hannah, has done a guest blog post for me on her recent adventures in biscuit making. Enjoy!

Amaretti Biscuits – fancy dunkers!

With a visit to the in-laws in the diary, I thought I would score some brownie points by baking amaretti biscuits. I don’t have a good track record with small bakes. However, with only four ingredients and a recipe by Mr Gino D’Acampo himself, what could possibly go wrong?

Well first off, instead of baking approximately 20 biscuits like the recipe stated, I ended up with 33. They were also quite chewy when I expected them to be hard. Thankfully, most people who tried them liked the texture. If you want a crunchier biscuit, take them out the oven to cool for a bit then put them back in on a low temperature until they’ve dried out.

Amaretti Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 340g / 12 oz ground almonds
• 340g / 12 oz caster sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 30ml / 1 fl oz amaretto liquor
• Butter for greasing

Heat the oven to 170C and grease a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Separate the egg and plop the whites into  a large bowl. Now, if you’re sensible, you’ll own an electric whisk. If you’re a glutton for punishment like myself, you have to beat the egg whites by hand, which takes forever. Beat them until peaks form.

Gently fold in the caster sugar and ground almonds before adding the amaretto. The recipe says mix this to form a smooth paste – I’d argue it forms a sticky mashed potato-like substance but it tasted good (yes, I eat raw biscuit mix).

If you want rustic splats, scoop little piles of the mixture onto the baking tray, allowing enough space for the biscuits to expand.  For a proper biscuit shape, roll the dough into small balls – approximately 2cm in diameter. Place the tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the amaretti biscuits are golden brown.

                                                       

Cherry Bakewell Loaf Cake

Cherry Bakerwell Loaf Cake

Personally I’m not a fan of the well-known pastry this cake is inspired by, but my best friend is a bit of a cherry bakewell junkie (she ate them almost every day of her pregnancy – I reckon Mr Kipling was working round the clock to feed her habit). This recipe is what I’ve come up with for her birthday cake; a little nicer than the overly sweet treats consumed during her pregnancy, I’d like to think!

Cherry Bakewell Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, softened
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 65g self-raising flour, plus 1 tbsp for dusting cherries
• 65g ground almonds
• half tsp almond extract or essence
• half tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp milk
• 150g glace cherries
• 150g icing sugar, sifted
• juice of half a lemon
• 15g flaked almonds, toasted

Heat the oven to 180C and grease and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg, then add the flour, mix again, add the second egg and beat again. Add the ground almonds, almond extract and baking powder and give a good mix, then stir in the milk. Put 100g of the glace cherries in a small bowl with the additional tablespoon of flour (reserving the remaining 50g of cherries for the top of the cake) and toss them around so they’re coated. Tip them into the cake batter and fold in so they’re evenly dispersed. Pour the cake batter into the loaf tin, smoothing into the corners and levelling off the top with a spatula. Bake for 35-40 minutes; it’s done when golden brown, springs back when lightly pressed or a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

If your flaked almonds aren’t toasted already, take advantage of your already hot oven and spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer, baking for about 5 minutes until golden brown; leave to cool. In a bowl mix the icing sugar and lemon juice together to form a thick paste. Once the cake is cooled, remove from the tin and smooth the icing over the top; it’s fine if it runs down the sides a little as it adds to the lovely homemade look. Sprinkle over the toasted almonds and add the remaining glace cherries. Let the icing set for half an hour or so before slicing and serving.