I've always been a fan of pure sugar. For instance, as a kid I was always a huge fan of cotton candy, and I also never understood why I couldn't (well, wasn't allowed to) just open a sugar packet at a restaurant table and pour it directly into my mouth. This love of sugar has carried over into an appreciation for a more socially acceptable dessert (which is still basically pure sugar): the meringue kiss.
I made a batch last night and was reminded why I like to make them so much. They are really easy, but look impressive and have a texture like nothing else. They literally melt in your mouth.
Then I was reminded of another dessert I love to make that is really easy (albeit more time consuming than the meringue kisses) yet impressive AND basically pure sugar: homemade marshmallows. At some point in the near future I'll have to make a batch of marshmallows and blog about them. But on my lunch break I started looking online for some inspiration. "Gourmet" homemade marshmallows are popular among food bloggers because you be creative with flavors and appearances. Case in point here.
In the course of my clicking through various food blogs looking at marshmallows, I somehow stumbled across a blog called "Blake Bakes." It's written by a guy named Blake who... bakes. It's a pretty great web site, but from there I discovered what may be my new favorite food blog (and it's not even about food, really): Blake Sips. It's only been live for a few months so there is not much there, but what's there I LOVE. Blake and a guest blogger named Jason review drinks and post recipes. The recipe for Papa Gator's Margaritas sounds delicious so I might have to try that before autumn comes. And there is a beer review that my dad might enjoy reading. (Come to think of it, Dad... I should talk to you about contributing as a guest blogger on here!) And coincidentally, tomorrow (September 5) is the one-year-anniversary of my first blog entry, which was about a beverage!
So, lunch break is over and it's time for me to get back to work, but in the meantime enjoy Blake's blogs and I'll try to post more sugar-filled recipes soon. Here's the recipe for the meringue kisses:
I made a batch last night and was reminded why I like to make them so much. They are really easy, but look impressive and have a texture like nothing else. They literally melt in your mouth.
Then I was reminded of another dessert I love to make that is really easy (albeit more time consuming than the meringue kisses) yet impressive AND basically pure sugar: homemade marshmallows. At some point in the near future I'll have to make a batch of marshmallows and blog about them. But on my lunch break I started looking online for some inspiration. "Gourmet" homemade marshmallows are popular among food bloggers because you be creative with flavors and appearances. Case in point here.
In the course of my clicking through various food blogs looking at marshmallows, I somehow stumbled across a blog called "Blake Bakes." It's written by a guy named Blake who... bakes. It's a pretty great web site, but from there I discovered what may be my new favorite food blog (and it's not even about food, really): Blake Sips. It's only been live for a few months so there is not much there, but what's there I LOVE. Blake and a guest blogger named Jason review drinks and post recipes. The recipe for Papa Gator's Margaritas sounds delicious so I might have to try that before autumn comes. And there is a beer review that my dad might enjoy reading. (Come to think of it, Dad... I should talk to you about contributing as a guest blogger on here!) And coincidentally, tomorrow (September 5) is the one-year-anniversary of my first blog entry, which was about a beverage!
So, lunch break is over and it's time for me to get back to work, but in the meantime enjoy Blake's blogs and I'll try to post more sugar-filled recipes soon. Here's the recipe for the meringue kisses:
4 egg whites, room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
Heat oven to 225 degrees. Combine egg whites, almond extract and cream of tartar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until soft peaks form (about 1 minute). Increase speed to high. Beat, gradually adding sugar 2 tablespoons at a time and scraping bowl often, until stiff peaks form and sugar is almost dissolved (2 to 3 minutes).
Spoon level tablespoons of meringue, 1 inch apart, onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, using a knife or spatula to remove meringue from spoon. Swirl top of meringue with knife or back of spoon. (I actually used an icing piping bag and tip to squeeze the meringue into the swirly shape.)
Bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven; let stand in oven for 1 hour.
2 comments:
I'd love to try one! If you haven't given them all away and you don't mind, put one in the freezer and bring with when you come over in a couple weeks. :)
Oh! And I love Blake's motto -- "If you can drink it, we can blog it." Nice . . .
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