Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 15:47:30 -0600
From: brubaker@nlpchicago.com (Virginia Brubaker)
Jennifer asked about uses for Cardamom, which reminded me of this recipe
that I created several years ago by combining my favorite Swedish fatfree
and high fat Christmas cookie recipes. I just stole the cardamom from those
artery-clogging Cardamom Cookies and added it to the plain meringues. My
family loved them when I took them to Christmas celebrations...
This recipe does not rate high on nutrition, but it is fatfree and yummy for
the holidays!
CARDAMOM MERINGUES
3 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
Beat egg whites with electric mixer, at low speed until they get foamy,
then at high speed until they form stiff peaks. (My test for this is that I
can pick up the bowl and turn it sideways without the egg whites moving.)
Note that your bowl and beaters must be absolutely grease-free for this to
work properly.
Gradually add the sugar, perhaps an eighth of a cup at a time, and
continue to beat at high speed for a few minutes after each addition of
sugar. (This is a nice time to tidy up your kitchen cabinets, returning to
the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl often.) When all the sugar
has been beaten in, the egg whites should look shiny. Add the cardamom and
beat in as briefly as possible.
Drop the mixture in small mounds (or tiny mounds if you have the
patience!) on baking sheets that have been covered with foil or kraft paper.
Bake at 250 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 90 minutes. Turn off the oven and
leave the meringues in the oven, preferably overnight. Then peel them from
the foil or paper and store in airtight containers.
We like these best when they are baked at a low enough temperature to
avoid browning and for a long enough time to totally dry them. YMMV.
Perfectly baked, they explode in your mouth, than melt into a yummy mix of
sugar and spice. The exploding part is a good reason to make them really
small, so they can be popped in the mouth whole. This keeps them from
sending meringue shards all over your furniture when someone tries to bite them!
kwovo ovo