Passionfruit Meringues

A couple of weeks back I caught an episode of ‘Cooks to Market’ on Food TV, only to see one of my little sister’s school friends – Stacey – competing as one half of the team ‘The Meringue Girls’. They did very well on the show and it seems the momentum has continued since as they have a book on the way! Watching them make beautiful meringues of all colours and flavours inspired me to give it a go.

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
¾ cup of caster sugar (I used half regular and half Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar)
1 tablespoon Nutrafresh sparkling passionfruit powder
a few drops of yellow food colouring
*whipped cream or ice cream to serve

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180˚C.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, add half the sugar and beat well, add remaining sugar a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, add passionfruit powder with your last tablespoon of sugar.
Drop oven temp to 120˚C and pipe or spoon small amounts (slightly smaller than bite size as mixture will expand) of the mixture onto an oven tray lined with baking paper.
If you wish to colour them just place a small drop of yellow food colouring to the top of each meringue and swirl with a skewer or toothpick.
Bake for 35 minutes or until meringues are dry but not brown.
*Tip – do not open oven door while cooking!

I think these are divine and so, so easy. Ice cream or cream takes the tang off the passionfruit perfectly, I also served mine with a small drizzle of Prenzel Passionfruit Tipsy Topping! If you want to know more about the Meringue Girls you can check out Stacey’s Interrview with Food TV here.

Halloween Meringue Bones

These are super easy to whip up for a Halloween treat, although only half my batch really resembled bones as I piped some too thick and they puffed up a bit too much. Next time I might print out some type of template and lay it under wax paper to help keep them uniform.

Ingredients:
3 egg whites (size 6)
¾ cup of caster sugar

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180˚C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, add half the sugar and beat well, add remaining sugar a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition.
Drop oven temp to 120˚C and pipe in the shape of bones (or ghosts) onto an oven tray lined with baking paper.
Bake for 20 minutes or until meringues are dry but not brown. Leave in the oven until it is cool before removing.
*Tip – do not open oven door while cooking!

Meringues like Pavlova can be different in texture each time you make them due to things like the weather and the humidity so can take a little bit of practice. If you love meringues but can’t make them or enough of them you could always get in touch with our newest sponsor Fab Meringues!

This will be my last post for the next week(ish), we are moving back to Auckland this Friday which means an end to the last nine weeks of solo parenting while Shane has been away working (yay!). I am so excited to be living as a family again and to be living close to Mel and my new house has a far bigger and newer kitchen than the one I have had here in New Plymouth!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I have been dying to try and make this meringue topping for cupcakes after sampling the lovely Meredith’s weeks ago but I have been waiting for a special occasion – my Nana’s 85th birthday party was the perfect occasion. Now I have to apologise – the above photo does not do the topping justice, I was in a rush to get to the party and the topping had been on the cupcake for about two minutes before I bit into it to take a picture so it didn’t get time to set. However, it doesn’t matter because the cupcakes were absolutely delicious and a hit with everyone.

Ingredients:
90g softened butter
90g softened cream cheese
The rind of 1 large lemon (minimum of 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
⅔ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup self-raising flour

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 160°C. Line a 12 cupcake pan, with cupcake papers.
Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth, then beat in lemon rind/juice, sugar and eggs until you have a nice creamy mixture.
Sift the flours. Add the flour gradually to the cheese mixture and beat on a low speed, until just combined.
Divide the mixture evenly between the cake cases and bake for 20 minutes until firm to touch. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

I used my ¼ teaspoon measure to scoop out the centre of the cupcake and I filled the hole with ‘Barker’s Lemon Curd’ or, you could make your own lemon curd.

 
Meringue Topping:
2 egg whites
150g caster sugar

Whisk egg whites and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water for approximately 5 minutes (until sugar has dissolved - when you rub some of the mixture between your fingertips it won't feel grainy). Move bowl to mixer, using whisk attachment mix until stiff peaks form and the mixture thick and glossy.

 All packed up and ready to go

I doubled the recipe for both the cupcakes and the topping to take 24 along with me. I definitely recommend giving these a go – you will thank me, I promise. Oh and if you were wondering about the cute cupcake casings they are ‘Mrs Roger’s Baking Cups’ from Living and Giving.

Happy Birthday Nana! xox

Mere’s Chocolate Chip Blondies

These are delicious! I had attempted Blondies once before (a couple of years ago) but they were nowhere near as scrummy as these and I had gone back to the dark side (brownies) – however, these have converted me!  I got the recipe from Meredith – one of the many lovely Mum’s I have met through an online forum set up during my pregnancy with Max.  Not only has it been a fantastic place to ask questions about things little Max is doing/not doing, but it has been awesome for recipe sharing as well.  The Milo Biscuits and Cheesecake Brownie Swirls came from ladies in the same forum.

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips (I used ½ a cup of milk chocolate drops and ½ a cup white chocolate drops).

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 20x20cm tin with baking paper.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.
Beat in salt, egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
Add in flour, baking powder and choc chips and stir until no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
Pour dough – it will be thick – into prepared baking dish and smooth it into an even layer.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until set and the edges are just very lightly browned.
Cool in the pan before slicing.

For Snickerdoodle Blondies, leave out choc chips and mix together 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, then sprinkle over dough before baking.

I can vouch for the ‘Snickerdoodle Blondies’ deliciousness as I had morning tea at Meredith’s house today and they were fantastic, as were the lemon cupcakes with meringue frosting she made! She has also shared her recipe for tequila cupcakes with me – so look out for that as we head into the warmer months.

One of  Mere’s gorgeous cupcakes! I am definitely going to be giving meringue frosting a go soon.

Thank you Meredith!

Dirk’s Lemon Meringue Pie

Simon’s work mate Dirk reckons he can make a pretty good Lemon Meringue Pie.  Since I love lemony deserts I kept this little factoid in my memory, reminded Simon numerous times, and what do ya know?…  during the weekend we went and hung out with Dirk while he made us a Lemon Meringue Pie.  The pie was awesomely good and I got the recipe :) 

  Dirk and Dayle in action! 

You will need:

250g packet plain biscuits, crushed
3 tablespoons sugar
3 eggs
395g can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup lemon juice (approx. 3 lemons)
3 tablespoons caster sugar
170g margarine, melted

Grease a 17.5cm x 28cm baking dish.  Mix the biscuits, sugar and the melted butter together.  Press the biscuit mixture into the prepared dish.

Separate the eggs.  Add the yolks to the condensed milk and mix until combined.  Add the lemon juice and mix again.  Pour over the biscuit base and bake in a 180˚C oven for 10 minutes, until brown.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.  Add the caster sugar and beat again until stiff. 

 
Spoon the meringue mixture over the lemon filling.  Bake in a 170˚C oven for approximately 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Above is a piece of Dirk’s pie, which we ate warm because Simon and I were impatient.  So good.  Although, cold is just as yum too :)

Thanks Dirk!