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Looking for giant strawberry meringue recipe


ellencho

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The other day the bf and I picked 15 lbs of strawberries. So far we've made jam, marshmallows, shortcake, and ice cream. I have a lb of pureed strawberries left over and was hoping to use them to make those giant strawberry meringues that I ate in Paris when I was younger. They were softball sized, very sweet, chewier on the inside than the outside.

Does anyone know how to make these? I have a recipe for giant meringues but I wasn't sure if adding the strawberry puree would affect the texture.

Believe me, I tied my shoes once, and it was an overrated experience - King Jaffe Joffer, ruler of Zamunda

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I always love a good macaron, but what I'm looking for are similar but different. They are both egg white based and sweet, but what I want doesn't contain nuts.

Believe me, I tied my shoes once, and it was an overrated experience - King Jaffe Joffer, ruler of Zamunda

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Ellencho, I am intrigued by the idea of making a meringue with fruit. I think that too much water from the fruit might be problematic, so one would need to reduce the water content somehow, before attempting to whip the egg whites.

A meringue would call for a ratio of 1 to 2 parts sugar, to 1 part egg white. So therefore, if I wanted to make "strawberry" meringues, I would weigh out my sugar and my egg whites first, then combine the strawberry puree with the sugar and make a syrup. I'd go for the higher sugar end of the ratio.

I would cook the syrup to disolve the sugar, and reduce as much water from it as possible without discoloring the strawberries. Acid of some sort, perhaps lemon juice would be nice, will keep the sugar from granulating. I would strain the syrup, because the bits may cause weeping in the final product, whereby it melts the meringue.

I think I'd go for the "Swiss" meringue method, whereby the whites & sugar are combined in a bowl with a little acid (cream of tartar) and placed in a bain marie (water bath) and whipped to a temperature of 175F, and whipping continues as it cools back down. (I'm assuming that you understand about using whites & utensils that are free of any fat. )

Then, I'd put the meringue in a piping bag with a star tip, and pipe out shapes on parchment paper and bake in a 200F oven to dry the meringues. If using an electric oven, the door needs to be left ajar to allow the moisture to escape. I don't know long this takes.

I would try it myself, but I'm leaving on vacation today, but good luck, should you decide to go for it. :smile: Hopefully you will, and you can let us know what worked and what didn't.

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Exactly, it's the moisture from my strawberry puree that I thought would be problematic. I sort of had a feeling that the patisseries were using powders/extracts anyway.

Stevarino, the suggestion that you gave is somewhat similar to what I was considering doing, which was to take some of the jam that I made, strain it of its seeds and use that instead of my puree. I did use pectin in my jam, and I wonder if that might affect the outcome of my meringues.

I would have liked to have used my strawberry puree, but eh, no biggie. If I try the strawberry jam then I'll still sort of be using my picked strawberries right? :) I'll just make a strawberry syrup and use it in ice cream sodas and sundaes :raz:

Believe me, I tied my shoes once, and it was an overrated experience - King Jaffe Joffer, ruler of Zamunda

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Hmm. What about using a good-quality strawberry extract instead of strawberry puree? I realize the point was to use up some of your strawberries, but this could give you the flavour hit without all the moisture.

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It's easier than all that. Make an Italian meringue, not a Swiss: use a puree of your fruit (strawberries, here) and perhaps a bit of sugar together brought to 121C to pour over the whipping egg whites.

I've done it in the past with raspberries and it's delicious. I just can't recall specific ratios at the moment, but the technique is sound. You can then pipe it atop something as is or pipe into shapes and bake. Look at basic Italian meringue recipes as a starting point.

Brian Ibbotson

Pastry Sous for Production and Menu Research & Development

Sous Chef for Food Safety and Quality Assurance

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