I made these for a tv program initially. Made a slew of these - both
kinds - yesterday. Very simple.

Pastorio
--------------------------
Meringue Cookies
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 220°F. Whip egg whites until frothy, add cream of tartar,
whipping it in. Add sugar gradually, whipping constantly, until the
meringue holds stiff peaks. Whip in vanilla. Pipe mounds onto greased
parchment of silicone baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake until
slightly browned, rotating sheets occasionally, for about an hour. Turn
off oven, crack door open and leave the meringues to dry for another
hour or two until very light and crisp. Store in airtight tins or
plastic containers.

Meringue Cookies with Ground Almonds
Follow the meringue cookie recipe and fold in 3/4 cup finely ground
almonds or canned almond paste along with or instead of the vanilla
extract. I usually substitute Amaretto for the vanilla to intensify the
almond flavor. These meringues will be crisp on the outside but moist on
the inside, and heavier than the plain ones.

You can make your own almond paste by processing 1 1/2 cups almonds with
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar in a blender or food processor.

Bob (this one) wrote:

> I made these for a tv program initially. Made a slew of these - both
> kinds - yesterday. Very simple.
>
> Pastorio
> --------------------------
> Meringue Cookies
> 3 large egg whites
> 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
> 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
> 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
> Heat oven to 220°F. Whip egg whites until frothy, add cream of tartar,
> whipping it in. Add sugar gradually, whipping constantly, until the
> meringue holds stiff peaks. Whip in vanilla. Pipe mounds onto greased
> parchment of silicone baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake until
> slightly browned, rotating sheets occasionally, for about an hour. Turn
> off oven, crack door open and leave the meringues to dry for another
> hour or two until very light and crisp. Store in airtight tins or
> plastic containers.
>
> Meringue Cookies with Ground Almonds
> Follow the meringue cookie recipe and fold in 3/4 cup finely ground
> almonds or canned almond paste along with or instead of the vanilla
> extract. I usually substitute Amaretto for the vanilla to intensify the
> almond flavor. These meringues will be crisp on the outside but moist on
> the inside, and heavier than the plain ones.
>
> You can make your own almond paste by processing 1 1/2 cups almonds with
> 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar in a blender or food processor.


Hey Bob, here's a twist on your cookies. If you shape them into nests
with an indent in the middle, you can fill them with jam, jelly, or pie
filling for a really nice treat. I posted links to tinypic pics of
meringue nests. They tend to be a big hit as they look like you spent
oodles of time making them yet they are really easy.

~patches~ wrote:
> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>> I made these for a tv program initially. Made a slew of these - both
>> kinds - yesterday. Very simple.
>>
>> Pastorio
>> --------------------------
>> Meringue Cookies
>> 3 large egg whites
>> 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
>> 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
>> 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
>> Heat oven to 220°F. Whip egg whites until frothy, add cream of
>> tartar, whipping it in. Add sugar gradually, whipping constantly,
>> until the meringue holds stiff peaks. Whip in vanilla. Pipe mounds
>> onto greased parchment of silicone baking sheet about an inch apart.
>> Bake until slightly browned, rotating sheets occasionally, for about
>> an hour. Turn off oven, crack door open and leave the meringues to dry
>> for another hour or two until very light and crisp. Store in airtight
>> tins or plastic containers.
>>
>> Meringue Cookies with Ground Almonds
>> Follow the meringue cookie recipe and fold in 3/4 cup finely ground
>> almonds or canned almond paste along with or instead of the vanilla
>> extract. I usually substitute Amaretto for the vanilla to intensify
>> the almond flavor. These meringues will be crisp on the outside but
>> moist on the inside, and heavier than the plain ones.
>>
>> You can make your own almond paste by processing 1 1/2 cups almonds
>> with 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar in a blender or food processor.
>
>
>
> Hey Bob, here's a twist on your cookies. If you shape them into nests
> with an indent in the middle, you can fill them with jam, jelly, or pie
> filling for a really nice treat. I posted links to tinypic pics of
> meringue nests. They tend to be a big hit as they look like you spent
> oodles of time making them yet they are really easy.

Yep. Look up "dacquoise" for another cool use of meringues.

The almond meringues can be made into tart shells.

I once made an upside down key lime pie with Italian Meringue. Meringue
crust spread in a pie plate and cooked/dried, key lime filling over
that, and sugar cookies on top. Dazzling. It lasted about an hour before
the filling softened the meringue. But it was grand.

Pastorio

In article >,
"Bob (this one)" > wrote:
>
> Yep. Look up "dacquoise" for another cool use of meringues.
>
> The almond meringues can be made into tart shells.
>
> I once made an upside down key lime pie with Italian Meringue. Meringue
> crust spread in a pie plate and cooked/dried, key lime filling over
> that, and sugar cookies on top. Dazzling. It lasted about an hour before
> the filling softened the meringue. But it was grand.
>
> Pastorio

You've given me an idea, dude. I was given a couple jars of stuff from
Cin'ti. Key Lime stuff and lemon stuff. A meringue shell with one of
the fillings and topped with whipped cream might be interesting.
Maybe shells, so there won't be so much waste.
In fact, maybe shells with a few fillings available.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 12-18-05 - Church review (I think
I'll become a critic - Rob's been calling me one for years!)
and a toffee recipe.