Tag Archives: meringue

Black Bottom Meringues— Chocolate meringues with dark chocolate and espresso bottoms

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Alright, alright, the bottoms are less black than brown but brown bottom sounded questionable, so I went with it. These are easy meringues with a dark chocolate and espresso ganache for the bottoms. The ganache mellows out the sweetness of the meringue, it is a lovely pairing. I mentioned my friend Angela in the last post, and I will mention her again! These meringues were made in celebration… in mourning… of her imminent departure. Angela is leaving us Vancouver folk for the wilds of the Sunshine Coast, she is moving on to bigger and better things, though we think she’ll come back to us, we’ve got all the beer here!

Black Bottom Meringues

INGREDIENTS

Meringues

  • 6 large egg whites (save your yolks for icebox cookies: to be posted this weekend)
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • pinch cream of tartar
  • 2/3 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Ganache

  • 2 squares of dark bakers chocolate (or 2 oz of dark chocolate of your choice)
  • 2 tbsp of room-temperature espresso or very strong coffee
  • 3 tbsp of whipping cream

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat your oven to 175°F.
  2. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a large metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water, not touching the water, and not boiling water.
  4. Whisk the mixture constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth and warm to the touch (roughly 3-4 minutes). Remove from heat and beat the whites until stiff, glossy peaks form (this is most easily and quickly done with a mixer, but I am sure it could be accomplished by hand).
  5. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
  6. Using a sifter (or a mesh strainer in my case) sift the cocoa over the meringue and stir until no streaks remain. I am not usually this particular about sifting stuff, but my cocoa was lumpy as all hell, so I did it and it worked beautifully.
  7. Scoop the meringue into a pastry bag or a large ziploc with a corner snipped off. Squeeze out quarter-sized dollops onto your parchment paper.
  8. Bake for 2 hours, until they lift from the pan easily, mine took a little extra time because I wanted them quite dry. If you want them a little chewy, check after 1.5 hours. Allow to cool completely.
  9. While the meringues are cooling make the ganache.
  10. In a small pan over simmering water, melt the chocolate taking care not to scorch it.
  11. Add espresso and cream and stir to combine, it will come together… trust me.
  12. Once meringues have cooled smooth a layer of ganache across the bottom, place meringues bottom-up on a baking sheet as you go. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the ganache to set.
  13. Serve.

The meringues are starting to stiffen.

Folding in the cocoa powder.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (easier than it sounds, don’t be afraid of the curdle!)

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So, I have my favourite regular buttercream recipe, Dreamy Buttercream, but I’ve wanted to try swiss meringue buttercream ever since I saw Sweetapolita‘s  (ugh even the name is great!) tutorial. Her tutorial makes this fluffy, cloud of an icing seem simple and less scary. And it was only with her encouragement that I managed to pull this off. So here is the recipe, my additions, my experience, and my mini-tutorial. The results can be seen in the next post, as the topping for my Brown Butter Cupcakes.

Satiny, glorious swiss meringue buttercream!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

See Sweetapolita’s recipe and tutorial here!

Ingredients (this makes 15 cups, my measurements for 1/4 of the recipe follow each ingredient)

  • 16 large egg whites (4 large egg whites)
  • 4 cups white sugar (1 cup white sugar)
  • 5 cups of unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into cubes (1 1/4 cups unsalted butter)
  • 2 tbsps pure vanilla extract (1 1/2 tsp vanilla)
  • 1/4 tsp salt (tiny pinch o’salt)
optional extra
  • 200gr dark chocolate (I used 70%)

Directions

  1. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer (or just a metal bowl if you are mixerless, though this is WAY easier with a mixer),  whisk attachment, and whisk with paper towel and lemon juice (or vinegar), to remove any trace of grease.
  2. Add egg whites and sugar to the metal bowl,  and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot (smoosh some between your fingers, if it is smooth, no granules, you are good).
  3. Take off of stove, and begin to whip (with the mixer or by hand)until the mixture is thick, glossy, and neutral (you can feel outside of the bowl to test temperature, this takes some time).
  4. Switch over to paddle attachement, or a good spoon, and, while mixing continuously on low speed, add butter one cube at a time until incorporated.
  5. Mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture.
  6. Add vanilla and salt, mix well. You can also add a wide variety of flavourings, extracts, and more. If buttercream is too runny, the butter was possibly too soft–place into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, then beat again. If still too runny, add a few more cubes of butter and keep beating until it reaches Use immediately, or refrigerate/freeze.

Picture tutorial time!

Whipping the meringue. Dig in, this stuff is glorious!

  1. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer (or just a metal bowl if you are mixerless, though this is WAY easier with a mixer),  whisk attachment, and whisk with paper towel and lemon juice (or vinegar), to remove any trace of grease.
  2. Add egg whites and sugar to the metal bowl,  and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot (smoosh some between your fingers, if it is smooth, no granules, you are good).
  3. Take off of stove, and begin to whip (with the mixer or by hand)until the mixture is thick, glossy, and neutral (you can feel outside of the bowl to test temperature, this takes some time).

    Adding butter.

  4. Switch over to paddle attachement, or a good spoon, and, while mixing continuously on low speed, add butter one cube at a time until incorporated.

    AHH curdling! It’s alright, now is the time to save it! It’s easy!
    Just put the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes, pop it back in the mixer and get to work. It took about 10 minutes of low, slow mixing for it to come together but it was totally worth it!

  5. Mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture.

    It’s hard to tell, but it is finally coming together here, everything is fluffing up, smoothing out, and making heaven.

  6. Add vanilla and salt, mix well.  Use immediately.
  7. If you are adding flavourings, do it at the end. Replace the vanilla with another extract. OR, do as I did, melt 200gr of dark chocolate and allow to cool. Drizzle the chocolate into the buttercream while it is on low. Top your mini cupcakes and then drizzle with an additional bit of melted dark chocolate that has been thinned slightly with some shortening.