Hazelnut Meringue

[Anna N]

So I should stay away from baking but I had to try.

The recipe was for a hazelnut meringue - two rounds of meringue filled with raspberry cream.

It called for 4 egg whites stiffly beaten, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vinegar, a few drops of vanilla and "115g/4oz/1 cup roasted and chopped hazelnuts, ground".

The hazelnut quantitiy had me a bit befuddled - was this 1 cup of ground hazelnuts, 1 cup hazelnuts ground or 1 cup chopped hazelnuts ground??? Anyway, I went with 1 cup ground hazelnuts and I think that was way too much.

It called for a 350F oven and mine is pretty accurate though I suspect it has hot spots. Two 8 inch sandwich tins lined with parchment and bake for 50-60 minutes. Mine are non-stick and light grey.

The result was less than good - the bottom edges of the meringue were burned black after only 40 minutes and the texture was really, really chewy.

Any clues? I want to try again as I am stubborn and besides I love the combo of hazelnuts and raspberries and just once I'd like to make something from my own oven!

Thanks,

Anna N

[torakris]

Anna,

I am no where near being a professional chef, so I hope someone else pops in but I have made meringues and I have even made hazelnut ones. The one thing that struck me odd was the 350 degree oven. I have never cooked meringues at over 250 and often even lower.

My hazelnut meringue recipe calls for 4 eggs and 3/4 cup whole hazelnuts (which are then roasted and crushed), the chewiness could have come from the large amount of ground hazelnuts.

[Anna N]

Anna,

I am no where near being a professional chef, so I hope someone else pops in but I have made meringues and I have even made hazelnut ones. The one thing that struck me odd was the 350 degree oven. I have never cooked meringues at over 250 and often even lower.

My hazelnut meringue recipe calls for 4 eggs and 3/4 cup whole hazelnuts (which are then roasted and crushed), the chewiness could have come from the large amount of ground hazelnuts.

Thanks. Even I wondered about the 350F but I googled and found a number of similar recipes also calling for a 350F so I am assuming that it is not completely off. I tend to think you are right on the hazelnuts - too much! I guess I should have posted on the pastry board - must be a Freudian slip - don't want to pretend to be a pastry cook! Anna N

[Katherine]

I believe I have cooked nut macaroons at that temperature, and with even more nuts, but they are done when they are light brown, which will probably be a lot less than 45 minutes.

[ruthcooks]

"1 cup chopped hazelnuts, ground" means you measure and then grind.

Otherwise, it would read "1 cup ground hazelnuts"

It's like "1 cup cream, whipped" vs. "1 cup whipped cream". When the modifier comes before the ingredient, then you take the measurement after taking the action.

[elyse]

350 seems high to me too. I always check my baking stuff half way through.

[Suzanne F]

I agree with the others about the temperature. The recipe I used to use for Japonaises (egg whites, sugar, ground almonds) called for an oven temp of 225 degrees F, and a baking time of 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

As for the amount of nuts: this is where a scale is needed. You've got the weights -- no question then as to quantity. See Vengroff's Kitchen Scale Manifesto. And yes, "115g/4oz/1 cup roasted and chopped hazelnuts, ground" means first you measure the nuts, THEN you grind them. But going by weight is so much easier.

[elyse]

It's funny. In my recent baking class, we had to do some measuring. Something like 15 lbs of flour, and sift. I asked if we should sift the flour before or after measuring. I stopped asking as I got to the end of the sentance. Der.

[col klink]

This thread has been moved to the Pastry forum.

[Anna N]

This thread has been moved to the Pastry forum.

Thank you ... I think....

Anna N

[chefette]

Try really drying out your hazelnuts . Toast, chop, retoast and then chop finer being careful nut to make paste.

The oven temp is probably too high - you would probably be happier at 300-325F and they should be baked in 35-40 minutes.

They may still be slightly flexible when you remove them from the oven so let them sit in a nice dry place for a while.

Don't do this on a rainy day.

They should be lightly golden brown

[tan319]

Try really drying out your hazelnuts .  Toast, chop, retoast and then chop finer being careful nut to make paste.

The oven temp is probably too high - you would probably be happier at 300-325F  and they should be baked in 35-40 minutes.

They may still be slightly flexible when you remove them from the oven so let them sit in a nice dry place for a while.

Don't do this on a rainy day.

They should be lightly golden brown

I.ve been using my kitchen aid grinder attachment to grind nuts with lately.

Coarse disk.

I made a hazelnut sponge cake with them, turned out awesome.

Better luck next time

[inventolux]

Try really drying out your hazelnuts .  Toast, chop, retoast and then chop finer being careful nut to make paste.

The oven temp is probably too high - you would probably be happier at 300-325F  and they should be baked in 35-40 minutes.

They may still be slightly flexible when you remove them from the oven so let them sit in a nice dry place for a while.

Don't do this on a rainy day.

They should be lightly golden brown

I.ve been using my kitchen aid grinder attachment to grind nuts with lately.

Coarse disk.

I made a hazelnut sponge cake with them, turned out awesome.

Better luck next time

Grind some hazelnut meringues and make hazelnut meringues with the "hazelnut meringue powder" as a sugar substitution. Let me know how it turns out.

[Anna N]

Thanks to all of you for your advice. I tried again, paying attention to all that has been said.

The first thing I discovered when I went to put the second batch in the oven was that the oven shelf was in the lowest position! That was probably the major mistake that led to the burned crust. I move it to the middle of the oven and reduced the oven temp to 300F.

Unfortunately, just as I ground the last of the hazelnuts for the second attempt, my grinder threw off ground plastic! It was a fairly new Cuisinart coffee grinder and is now very dead! So that precluded re-toasting and re-grinding them but I did dry out the ones that were ground in a small skillet. I used less ground hazelnuts this time.

The result was much better - crunchier and far less chewy but now a new problem - a crust formed on the top with an air gap below and the crust shattered when I tried to remove it from the pan.

I am not yet ready to throw in the towel but will have to buy a new coffee grinder before I make another attempt.

Anna N

[Wendy DeBord]

Theres' several different textures you'll get with your ingredients and techinque. There's a hard meringues which dry on very low heat over a prolonged period of time. Which is what I think you were looking for when you say a better result was drier.

Also japonaise and dauqoise (which I can't spell). The last two contain nuts finely ground like a flour or another ground dry item like coconut. Unforunately I need to research this because I can't tell you off hand the exact differences between them (which is why I like working on line it forces me to think and define things I would ordinarly wouldn't bother with). These two "meringues" will give you a softer end product then a traditional hard meringue, they also will be thinner. Some might skin over the top a bit and they also are baked at a higher temp. and not meant to dry out but to form more of a sponge cake layer.

I'm not certain how you worked your recipe but if you did it exactly as written- your likely to have some problems. The egg whites should be whipped with the vinager (although I'd use cream of tartar instead) and slowly add your sugar while your whipping. Then fold in your nuts and vanilla (although I add the vanilla while whipping).

But it sounds like you've done everything right (for a daquoise) but you have the wrong recipe for what you want (a dry meringue). That's my best guess.

Edited July 2, 2003 by Sinclair (log)

[sandra]

Instead of baking them in a sandwich tin, try the following - line a baking sheet with silicone paper, or parchment, on it, draw circles the size of the base of the tin, grease the tray and lay the paper (drawing side down) onto the tray - then put your meringue into a piping bag with a medium round nozzle and pipe the meringue in concentric cicles, starting at the center until you fill the drawing - then bake - you will end up with two "as perfect as you can pipe" disks and they should not burn b/c there are no sides to concentrate the heat..

Here is the recipe I have, this will give you at least 3 flat disks of meringue:

Fond Dacquoise:

60 gr ground hazelnuts

60 gr icing sugar

vanilla

12 gr flour

25 gr sugar

2 egg whites

Oven at 325 bake for 20 mins until just lite brown

The theory behind this recipe is equal amounts of sugar and ground nuts - so your 1 cup of ground nuts is fine for your 1 cup of sugar

[artscallion]

Hi Anna!

I'm brand new to this site. I have a recipe that sounds very similar to yours but with some important differences. BTW...do you have a food processor? You can grind nuts in that as well as you can in a coffee grinder.

Hazelnut Meringue Cake with Raspberries

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cup sugar

½ t. vanilla extract

¼ t. white wine vinegar

1 ¼ cups chopped toasted hazelnuts, ground

1 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp sugar

1 ½ cups ripe but firm raspberries

confectioners' sugar

Line bottom and sides of two 8 inch layer cake pans with foil. Grease the foil with butter, then sprinkle with flour, shaking out any excess.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Gradually add the sugar, beating constantly. Add the vanilla and vinegar and beat for a few seconds to blend. Fold in the nuts.

Divide the meringue mixture between the pans, spreading evenly with a rubber spatula. Place in 375 oven and bake 35 minutes.

Remove the meringues from the oven and let cool in the pans for 3 minutes, then lift the meringues out of the pans in their foil cases. Carefully peel off the foil. Set the meringues aside for a few minutes until quite cool.

Whip the cream until thick. Slowly beat in sugar. Gently fold in the raspberries.

Place one meringue on a serving plate and pile the cream and raspberry mixture on top. Place the second meringue layer over the filling and press down gently. Sprinkle top with confectioners' sugar and decorate with more whipped cream and raspberries if desired.

Edited July 3, 2003 by artscallion (log)

[Anna N]

I will be attempting this again, taking careful note of all the advice you have all so kindly given. I have a new coffee-grinder - I do have a food processor but it's an ancient no-name jobbie that has long ago lost the power to deal with nuts so it's not really an option. I also intend to do a bit more research on meringues in their various guises so I better understand where it is I am trying to get to.

artscallion: yes, the finished product sounds identical to what I am trying to do.

Sandra: Piping intimidates this clutzy cook! I will give it a shot nevertheless - who knows - I just might succeed! Thanks.

Anna N

[rickster]

Although piping out the meringue on the parchment circle it the best way to do it, you can also spread it with a spatula in the circle as well, if you're careful.

[Anna N]

Success at last!

I found enough Canadian Tire money to almost completely cover the cost of a new coffee grinder (Black & Decker) and thus was able to grind more hazelnuts. I followed artscallions' recipe and the appearance, taste and texture were just what I was aiming for! Many, many thanks to all who offered advice and encouragement.

Anna N