Meringue Boxes With Sorbet Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200 degrees. Use a pencil to trace six 3-inch squares and twelve 2-inch-by-3-inch rectangles on a piece of parchment paper, and place, pencil side down, on baking sheet.
• Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the meringue for later use. Fill a piping bag fitted with a coupler, with a tip of your choice, and pipe out the meringue in desired patterns. The piped lines or designs should connect, but you want to leave plenty of open spaces in between the piping. Cover the remaining meringue with plastic, and set aside.
• Bake piped meringue 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 175 degrees, and bake an additional 35 minutes or longer, until the meringue is dried but still white.
• Return the remaining meringue to electric mixer, and rewhip until light, fluffy, and glossy. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue and a plain tip. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, assemble the boxes by piping the meringue along edges of bottom square and piping meringue between side rectangles. Change the tips, and pipe out a decorative pattern on the outside joints to hide your work. Do not attach the top of box.
• Return the baking sheet to the oven, and bake until the second piping of meringue is hard and dry, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool completely.
• Scoop the sorbet into each box, and serve with top to the side or placed over sorbet.

Steps:

• Stir together the strawberries, blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl. Set aside to macerate, stirring occasionally, while you make the meringue cups.
• Whisk together the egg white, vanilla, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and lemon zest in another medium bowl. Add the confectioners' sugar and stir with a rubber spatula until mostly combined, and then mix with your hands until a thick, firm dough forms.
• Remove about 1/8 of the dough and place in another bowl. Add the red gel food coloring. Wearing gloves, knead the dough to swirl in the color until no streaks remain. Return the red dough to the bowl with the other dough and mix together until swirled throughout.
• Transfer the dough to a cutting board and pat into a disk. Cut into 8 equal pieces (about 2 tablespoons each), and then roll each into a ball. Use a finger to poke a hole, about 1/2 inch across and 1/2 inch deep, into the center of each ball. If the ball starts to crack when poked, use your fingers to press it back together. Cover with a slightly damp kitchen towel so they don't dry out.
• Line a microwave-safe round dinner plate with a paper towel. Place 1 ball in the center of the plate and microwave on the highest setting until the dough puffs into a crispy meringue about 5 inches across-it should be hollow when tapped, about 1 minute 30 seconds. Use an oven mitt or kitchen towel to remove the very hot plate from the microwave and transfer the paper towel with the meringue to a wire rack.
• Line a second large microwave-safe round dinner plate with a new paper towel and repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough, alternating between the two plates so that they have a little time to cool down after microwaving each meringue cup.
• Let the meringues cool completely, then carefully peel away the paper towels.
• Place each meringue cup on a serving plate and top each with about 1/2 cup of the macerated berries and a scoop of lemon sorbet. Drizzle with some of the juices from the fruit and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter an angel-food-cake pan. In a mixer on medium speed, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Add the vanilla and almond extracts, and beat to stiff, glossy peaks.
• Spoon the meringue into the pan. Level the top. Place in the oven, and turn off the heat. Do not open the door until the oven is cool, 4 hours or overnight.
• Push up the removable bottom of the pan. Cut away the top crust; reserve the crust and the crumbs. Unmold the cake onto a plate. Just before serving, whip the cream with 1 tablespoon sugar, then ice the cake with it. Chop the reserved crust to make crumbs, then sprinkle them around the sides and top of the cake, pressing gently.
• In a bowl, combine the raspberries, remaining 1/2 cup sugar and kirsch. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Serve the cake sliced with the sauce spooned on the side.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250°F, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Stir together sugar and cornstarch. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites with lemon juice and salt on low speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and gradually add sugar mixture, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Draw two 5-by-10-inch rectangles on a sheet of parchment, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Turn parchment upside-down on a baking sheet and adhere corners with masking tape or tiny dollops of meringue. Repeat with another sheet of parchment and baking sheet, so you have 4 rectangles total. Divide meringue evenly among rectangles; spread to edges with an offset spatula.
• Bake until meringues are crisp and dry on outsides, but not developing any color, about 1 hour. Turn oven off (do not open door); let cool and continue drying in oven at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Temper sorbets in refrigerator until softened but not melting, about 15 minutes. Transfer one meringue layer to a freezer-safe plate or tray. Gently spread one pint of sorbet evenly to edges of meringue. Repeat with remaining meringue and sorbet layers, topping with last meringue layer. Freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or, wrapped in plastic, up to 2 days.
• Beat cream to soft peaks on medium-high speed. Spread over top of cake; sprinkle with berries, coconut, and seeds. Slice and serve immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and return to freezer until ready to serve, up to 4 hours.