After making Sablés Bretons and Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, I had a bunch of extra egg whites. I decided to use them to make the Cinnamon and Hazelnut Meringues from Ottolenghi.
I expected this recipe to basically be the same as the Spiced Praline Meringues from Sweet, but they're not. The two meringue recipes in Ottolenghi use Swiss meringue, where the sugar and egg whites are heated over simmering water before whipping. But other than the need to get out a second pan to heat the water, the recipe is straightforward. After heating white sugar, dark brown sugar (the recipe calls for muscovado but I didn't have any), and egg whites to 105 degrees, you whip the whites until glossy and fold in cinnamon. I used a #16 scoop to portion out the meringue (I got 24 meringues from a batch) and sprinkled on chopped hazelnuts before baking.
The recipe says you should bake the meringues for between 75 minutes to two hours (depending on size), and that when they're done they should be dry underneath but still soft in the center. I baked my meringues until I thought they were done and left them on the counter overnight to cool and dry out. The following morning I tried one and it was actually fairly wet inside. While I wasn't concerned about the wet interior with regard to food safety, I found the texture off putting. The outer meringue shell was completely dry and crisp, but the interior was the consistency of the topping on a lemon meringue pie, or maybe closer to what you would expect in a Pavlova. I didn't think I could serve the meringues that way, and so I decided to put them back into a low oven for about an hour.
Fortunately, after more time in the oven, I achieved something that I consider to be the holy grail of meringue textures -- a super chewy interior. It was so good. However, the outside of the meringue became extra dry, and biting into a meringue caused it to shatter and spew bits of thin meringue shell everywhere. I think the mess was worth it, though, and my tasters loved these. I liked the cinnamon flavor, but I think I would have preferred if the meringue were flavored with almond extract instead.
I assume that these meringues were supposed to be dry and crunchy all the way through. If I made them again, I would probably just leave them in the oven (turned off, with the door ajar) to cool after baking to ensure that they completely dried out. While I loved the chewy texture I was able to achieve, I think I got lucky with my two-stage baking method and I'm sure I would be pushing my luck if I tried to replicate the result!
Recipe: "Cinnamon and Hazelnut Meringues" from Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.
I expected this recipe to basically be the same as the Spiced Praline Meringues from Sweet, but they're not. The two meringue recipes in Ottolenghi use Swiss meringue, where the sugar and egg whites are heated over simmering water before whipping. But other than the need to get out a second pan to heat the water, the recipe is straightforward. After heating white sugar, dark brown sugar (the recipe calls for muscovado but I didn't have any), and egg whites to 105 degrees, you whip the whites until glossy and fold in cinnamon. I used a #16 scoop to portion out the meringue (I got 24 meringues from a batch) and sprinkled on chopped hazelnuts before baking.
Fortunately, after more time in the oven, I achieved something that I consider to be the holy grail of meringue textures -- a super chewy interior. It was so good. However, the outside of the meringue became extra dry, and biting into a meringue caused it to shatter and spew bits of thin meringue shell everywhere. I think the mess was worth it, though, and my tasters loved these. I liked the cinnamon flavor, but I think I would have preferred if the meringue were flavored with almond extract instead.
I assume that these meringues were supposed to be dry and crunchy all the way through. If I made them again, I would probably just leave them in the oven (turned off, with the door ajar) to cool after baking to ensure that they completely dried out. While I loved the chewy texture I was able to achieve, I think I got lucky with my two-stage baking method and I'm sure I would be pushing my luck if I tried to replicate the result!
Recipe: "Cinnamon and Hazelnut Meringues" from Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.
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