Boxcar Kitchen

I wanted to do something interesting after making the kisses and I started thinking a lot about vacherin which is a meringue based dessert. The general structure is made up of layers of meringue and cream or ice cream and finished off with seasonal fruit. Raspberry seems to be a popular flavor for this dessert.

The most traditional meringue flavors tend to be vanilla, chocolate, almond and lemon. While these are all delicious and simple, I wanted to adopt a more complex flavor combination à la Ladurée. They have a series of flower based macaroons (violet, orange blossom and rose). I had picked up some jasmine essence at Paris' Asian market, Tang Frères and had been itching to use it. The result was perfumed and awesome just like biting into a bouquet of flowers.

Meringues (modified Colin Cowie recipe)

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup superfine sugar
4 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 drop of jasmine essence (be careful not to use too much- the flavor develops during baking)

Add salt and cream of tartar, vanilla and essence to the egg whites and beat. Slowly add in the sugar while mixing continuously. The final result should be stiff shiny (so shiny that you can see your reflection shiny) egg whites that make proud little peaks that stand up on their own.

For this recipe I piped the meringue into 3-4" circles and baked them at 120°C for about 30 minutes and then finished them off with the oven door open.

Makes about 4 larger of 6 smaller meringues

Patisserie cream

250 ml of heavy cream
150 ml of 2% milk
3/4 tsp vanilla
3 egg yolks
80 grams sugar
40 grams flour

Heat the cream and milk to a boil and add in the vanilla at the last minute.
At the same time, beat together the yolks, sugar and flour until you have a thick consistency that ribbons into the bowl.
Add the milk to the egg mixture and continue to heat over a low temperature while all the while whisking. Once the mixture thickens up, remove and place in the fridge to cool.