Hazelnut Meringues by Colleen

Hazelnut Meringues by Colleen

Hey there!  

I have made the chocolate cream pie twice in the past week; once for William coming home and again for Steve for Father's Day.  It calls for 4 eggs yolks which leaves me with egg whites.  Often if I'm really busy I just throw them away.  But today I decided to make meringues.  Here is the recipe adapted from a Tante Marie recipe:

     ---Colleen

Hazelnut Meringues*
(adapted from a Tante Marie recipe)

4 oz toasted hazelnuts
1 cup egg whites at room temp
2 cups sugar, divided in half.

Toast the hazelnuts at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and rub in dishtowel to remove the skins.  When cool, grind in a hand nut grinder.  Or you can grind in a food processor with a little bit of sugar to keep the nuts from releasing too much oil and clumping.

In large bowl whip egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Add in 1 cup of sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time while whipping.  When first cup of sugar is added, add remaining cup sugar and ground hazelnuts and fold into the egg whites.

Line some cookie sheets with parchment paper.  You can make two large meringues if you want to make a sort of cake later (sandwich baked meringue circles  with whipped cream and berries and dust with powdered sugar) or you can make smaller individual meringues.    

The smaller meringues can be served with berries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce, or can be used to top a mousse, or crumble up to use as a crunchy topping.    

Either way, you will want to spread the egg whites to about 3 to 4 inches tall and bake at 250 for 60-90 minutes.  You  want the meringues to be dry on the interior, although some people prefer them a bit chewy.  If so, bake for the shorter amount of time.  

Turn off the oven and let them cool in the oven.  You can store the baked meringues for several months in a tightly sealed container.

*You can also use ground almonds. Perhaps toasted pine nuts.  I¹m not sure how well other nuts would work.

     ---Colleen