This came out far better than I thought it would,considering how difficult shaping the meringue was. When you make this, make sure it’s on a day when it’s low heat, low humidity. In fact, I had to freeze the meringue for 60 minutes in order to get it to the point where it was workable. When baking the meringue, it also turned a soft taupe, instead of staying white. But because it made it looked like a pie crust, I decided to keep it. It’s a great dessert and worth the time to put into it.
- 4 egg whites at room temperature
- 2/3 cup finely granulated white sugar
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Strawberries, kiwis and blueberries, as needed
Set the oven to 250º F. Put the egg whites in the bowl. Add the vinegar. Beat the egg whites until fluffy. Once the egg whites are fluffy, slowly add sugar. When the egg whites are very stiff, add the cornstarch and the vanilla, whisking a few more turns, until firm peaks can be formed.
Wet the baking parchment paper, crinkle it up, line the baking sheet with it. Draw a circle on the parchment paper as a guide for the meringue, then turn it over.
Fill a pastry bag about half full with the egg foam and twist it closed. Squeeze the pastry bag and make a meringue circle about 10 inches in diameter on the wax paper. If you don’t have a pastry bag, use a spoon to mound the meringue on the wax paper and make a well in the middle, creating a bowl-shaped shell.
When the circle is done, pipe a bunch of stars along the edge. Keep piping higher and higher until there is a nice deep bowl.
Put the meringue in the oven. After 45 minutes, turn the heat off. Leave the meringue in for another hour, or until it is completely cool.
Cut up the fruit. Remove the meringue bowl from the oven. Make sure that it’s cool. Put in freezer if needed and then pull out.
Make whipped cream with the heavy cream. Fill the meringue bowl with whipped cream and arrange fruit as you desire.
Serve immediately.
