Ina First Fridays: Meringues Chantilly with Roasted Berries

Welcome once again to Ina First Fridays! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend.

This Ina Friday selection is a dessert....Ina does the best desserts, don't you agree? This particular recipe is a great summer treat....I made it last summer (!), but never posted it. You have two choices for serving: you can use freshly whipped cream with a touch of sugar, vanilla and orange liqueur, or vanilla ice cream. I've served it both ways, but ice cream is simpler as you don't have the extra step of whipping the cream. On the other hand, whipped cream kind of offsets the sweetness of the meringue; it's pictured it here with whipped cream.

Meringues Chantilly with Roasted Berries

From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, 2008

Ingredients for meringues:

4 extra - large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Pinch kosher salt

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

(Recipe for roasted berries follows)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 4 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face down on the baking sheets.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on high speed until frothy. Add 2/3 cup of the sugar and continue beating on high speed until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/3 cup sugar into the meringue. With a large star - shaped pastry tip, pipe a disk of meringue inside each circle. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.

Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.

Makes 8 meringues.

For serving, place each meringue on a separate plate, top with whipped cream or ice cream and add the berries.

Roasted Berries

Ingredients:

Method:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Place the strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries on a sheet pan and toss with the sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Cool to room temperature before serving.

Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur

Ingredients:

2 cups cold whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier

Method:

Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla and orange liqueur and continue to whip until the cream forms fairly stiff peaks. (Don't overbeat!)

Ina Fridays participants: