Meringues with white chocolate and liqueur (Aux merveilleux)
Aux merveilleux is originally a Belgian sweet delicacy, adopted by French confectioners: it is meringues bound with whipped cream and rolled in white chocolate shavings, light and fragile as snowflakes. In one word, 'merveilleux' – wonderful.
Ingredients · Servings For 12 people
- 2 egg whites
- tartar
- 135 g caster sugar
- 300 ml whipping cream
- 50 ml cream coffee liqueur
- 15 g caster sugar
- vanilla paste
- 250g white chocolate
Method · 1 h 45 min
- Preheat the oven to 120°C (fan 100°C). Create a template: use a 4 cm round cookie cutter to draw 24 circles on a piece of baking paper that fits on the baking sheet. Turn the paper over so the circles are visible and place on the baking sheet.
- Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl and beat with a whisk until the egg whites start to foam. Add the sugar in parts and continue beating, always waiting for the previous batch of sugar to dissolve. Transfer the snow to a pastry bag with a smooth wide tip and pipe circles of snow onto the template. Place in the oven and dry for about 1 hour – the meringues must be dry and brittle. Then turn off the oven, open the door a little and leave to cool completely in the oven – this takes about an hour.
- In a bowl, combine the whipping cream, liqueur, sugar and vanilla paste and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Assemble: combine two meringues with whipped cream, spread the top and sides with whipped cream and roll the whole 'bun' in chocolate shavings. Let it rest briefly before serving. The meringues are best the same day, the whipped cream will make them too soggy.