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Post by riotgrrl on Nov 20, 2010 21:20:48 GMT
OK, I'm abusing my mod-powers and stickying this thread until I get a proper range of views as to the correct temperature and cooking time of dollop-meringues.
(by 'dollop' I mean the ones you just kind of dump with a spoon on to the baking dray as oppsed to pavlovas or anything integrated.)
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Post by everso on Nov 21, 2010 22:50:05 GMT
Right. Now meringues aren't supposed to be completely dry all the way through (those crap ones you buy probably are, but they are factory made). I suggest you leave them in the oven a little longer and if they look like they are browning turn out the oven. How big are the dollops? When I make mine they are about the size of a 10p. piece (possibly a tiny bit bigger). Obviously the bigger the dollops, the longer the cooking. When you do pavlovas they aren't supposed to be solid and dry all the way through, but slightly gooey in the middle, which makes them easier to cut. If they're completely dry they explode everywhere.
Re, the onions. We must have mental telepathy. Yesterday we had friends over to dinner and I did a mixture of stuff: chilli, rice, ribs, spicey potatoes, tomato salsa, sour cream etc. and I thought some nice caramelised onions would be good. They weren't as I hoped they'd be - maybe I should have used a frying pan rather than a saucepan (which probably doesn't allow the steam to escape easily). Anyway, just before serving I put them in the microwave to heat up and promptly forgot all about them. I discovered them at the end of the meal!
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Post by Weyland on Nov 22, 2010 12:12:33 GMT
Yesterday we had friends over to dinner and I did a mixture of stuff: chilli, rice, ribs, spicey potatoes, tomato salsa, sour cream etc. and I thought some nice caramelised onions would be good. I know there's supposed to be a Meet coming up in Blackpool, or Portmeirion, or Liverpool, or somewhere, but I move that we scrap that idea and go to Ev's for dinner instead. I'll bring the Czech dumplings and smoked paling, and Riot can make the meringue. All those in favour say AYE! |
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Post by trubble on Nov 22, 2010 12:15:41 GMT
Aye.
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Post by trubble on Nov 22, 2010 12:17:56 GMT
Right. Now meringues aren't supposed to be completely dry all the way through (those crap ones you buy probably are, but they are factory made). I suggest you leave them in the oven a little longer and if they look like they are browning turn out the oven. How big are the dollops? Well said, that woman.  |
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Post by everso on Nov 22, 2010 13:52:35 GMT
This is the trouble when people are used to factory made stuff. It's the same with eclairs. I do believe they're meant to be like scotch pancakes.  |
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Post by riotgrrl on Dec 2, 2010 14:34:52 GMT
Two failed batches of meringue last night. One I tried to make pink and maybe put in a bit too much food colouring - they were a great colour, but the egg whites went all soggy and they didn't even make the oven.
The 2nd batch a bit better, but still not right. It's definitely to do with oven temperatures and timings. Please tell me what yours is.
Carmelised onions - trick is to add some brown sugar, fry really slowly, dollop on some balsamic vinegar at end of cooking (just a small dollop) and rinse the juices out of pan with onions. Put onions in fridge and reheat the next day. That improves the flavour beyond all reason.
And I have a new one . . . I was making a Spanish tapas chicken recipe last night, and, after marinating the chicken pieces for several hours in a garlic/lemon juice/olive oil mix you are supposed to coat them with flour and fry. But mine didn't really take the flour, and then the flour all congealed into big crunchy ugly bits in the pan, all together, not on the chicken.
What did I do wrong?
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Post by everso on Dec 2, 2010 15:34:22 GMT
Riot, if I make meringues, I suppose I'd set my oven on really low (gas 1/4 (quarter), or 130c. and just keep checking on them. I think I went wrong with the onions by trying to fry them in a saucepan. The steam didn't escape like it would have in a frying pan. As for what went wrong with your recipe, that sounds like the sort of thing that happens to me when I follow recipes.  |
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Post by jean on Dec 6, 2010 8:59:00 GMT
Has anyone mentioned how important it is not to let the slightest speck of yolk get into the white?
That will be enough to stop the beaten whites holding their shape, or never getting there in the first place.
To be extra sure, rub mixing bowl and whisk with a little vinegar before you start.
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Post by riotgrrl on Dec 6, 2010 9:53:30 GMT
Has anyone mentioned how important it is not to let the slightest speck of yolk get into the white? That will be enough to stop the beaten whites holding their shape, or never getting there in the first place. To be extra sure, rub mixing bowl and whisk with a little vinegar before you start. Thanks Jean. What's the vinegar for? And for how long and at what temperature do you bake? |
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Post by jean on Dec 6, 2010 9:57:31 GMT
The vinegar is to get rid of any possible traces of fat - it's the fat in the egg yolks that causes the trouble.
I beat egg whites for souffés or mousses - I don't do meringues, so I've no advice about the baking.
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Post by everso on Jan 23, 2011 18:44:32 GMT
Meringue update:
Riot, I forgot to mention this a week or so ago: I made some small meringues and added a good couple of tablespoonfuls of ground up hazelnuts (left over from Christmas). I cooked them in a vair slow oven (about 130 deg. or gas 1/4). They turned out really well. Each meringue was about 1 teaspoonful of mixture. I don't know if by adding the nuts it made a difference, but they cooked in about an hour and a half and were lovely and dry inside and not chewy - if that's how you'd like them. Just thought I'd mention it. I might try them again using pecan nuts. It did add a nice flavour.
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Post by riotgrrl on Feb 8, 2012 18:52:15 GMT
Thank you Everso.
I have actually got over my meringue phase - having learned to make them I've discovered I find them a bit sickly and don't want to eat them.
I will make them again if I'm making one of my cheesecake or Key Lime Pie recipes which require only egg yolks. Otherwise, I'm over the meringue.
(Although I understand the latest fashion, taking over from cupcakes, is fancy meringue biscuits. You read it here first.)
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Post by everso on Feb 9, 2012 0:46:44 GMT
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Post by trubble on Feb 9, 2012 1:53:51 GMT
Thanks, Ev. I don't think much of this new macaroon fad, as you might be able to tell, so I must have seen red and posted in the wrong thread.
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Post by everso on Feb 9, 2012 2:11:06 GMT
LD I'm not a fan of these cupcakes either. Everyone is getting on the bandwagon, thinking they can make them. They are usually far too goopy for my liking (or licking, come to think of it). I have a rather nice recipe for chocolate fairy cakes with a chocolate fudge icing - positively no butter icing. Apparently, less than 10 calories per cake.  That is if you eat it standing up. I prefer fairy cakes. They are smaller and much less offensive. |
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Post by aubrey on Feb 9, 2012 9:31:23 GMT
Our lass has recently got into a cake making kick. She is really good at it. The icing is made from cream cheese, I think. It isn't sickly sweet anyway.
She did a chocolate cake yesterday that has chocolate and whisky icing.
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Post by everso on Feb 9, 2012 23:04:42 GMT
Our lass has recently got into a cake making kick. She is really good at it. The icing is made from cream cheese, I think. It isn't sickly sweet anyway. She did a chocolate cake yesterday that has chocolate and whisky icing. Never a bad thing. |
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Post by trubble on Feb 10, 2012 13:07:18 GMT
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Post by everso on Feb 10, 2012 16:55:11 GMT
Whenever we go down to Southend I always like to buy a bag of 'made while you wait' ring donuts.
I can usually wolf down about four.
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A.P.P.S
S C 
That is if you eat it standing up.
