After reading Mrs Beeton's recipe for meringues sandwiched together with liqueur or vanilla flavoured cream, I mentioned it to a friend and then said, "But it's so fiddly; you have to take them out of the oven halfway through the baking, scoop out the underside and then put them back into the oven and I really couldn't be bothered." His response was "But they sound so delicious!"
I couldn't deny this fact, so I resolved to try and do as Mrs Beeton says. The results were as promising as the recipe sounds, so here it is:
Meringues: INGREDIENTS FOR 2 DOZEN - 1/2 lb of pounded sugar, the whites of 4 eggs.
Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and, with a wooden spoon, stir in quickly the pounded sugar; and have some boards thick enough to put in the oven to prevent the bottom of the meringues from acquiring too much colour. Cut some strips of paper about 2 inches wide; place this paper on the board and drop a tablespoon at a time of the mixture on the paper, taking care to let all the meringues be the same size. In dropping it from the spoon, give the mixture the form of an egg and keep the meringues about 2 inches apart from each other on the paper.
Strew over them some sifted sugar and bake in a moderate oven for 1/2 hour. As soon as they begin to colour remove them from the oven; take each slip of paper by the two ends and turn it gently on the table and, with a small spoon, take out the soft part of each meringue. Spread some clean paper on the board, turn the meringues upside down and put them into the oven to harden and brown on the other side.
When required for table fill them with whipped cream, flavoured with liqueur or vanilla and sweetened with sugar. Join two of the meringues together and pile them high in a dish (i.e. cake stand). To vary their appearance finely-chopped almonds may be strewn over them before the sugar is sprinkled over.
Great expedition is necessary in making this dish; as if the meringues are not put into the oven as soon as the eggs and sugar are mixed, the former melts and the mixture would run on the paper instead of keeping its egg shape. The sweeter the meringues are made the crisper they will be; but if there is not sufficient sugar mixed with them they will most likely be tough. They are sometimes coloured with cochineal and if kept well covered in a dry place will remain good for a month or six weeks.
A luxurious dessert or afternoon tea treat they turned out to be - I flavoured my cream with Triple Sec, but you could use Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Creme de Menthe, brandy or whatever is in your liquor cabinet. The time spent was well worth the effort, as you now have a whole batch of meringues which will keep for some time, just waiting for their cream and liqueur filling at the right moment.
Your guests will be suitably impressed and you can congratulate yourself on producing a quite exquisite and elegant treat with only a relatively small amount of effort.
