Tag: Meringue

Meringue Swans from “The Ugly Duckling”

Posted January 9, 2020 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

Happy 2020, folks! I hope the new decade is treating you well so far. I submitted the first draft of my cookbook last week (which felt awesome), but I’ve had two very sick kids at home since then (not so awesome). Hopefully these ups and downs aren’t indicative of how the rest of the year will go!

In December I posted a poll announcing my plan to make a few Hans Christian Andersen recipes this year and asking you to vote on which of his fairytales you’d like me to do. “The Ugly Duckling” won by a landslide…followed by a three way tie for second place! So I guess I’m making four Andersen recipes this year instead of three! XD

I won’t reveal the other winning stories just yet; I’ll do it one at a time as the posts go up. I think it’ll be more fun that way. ^.^ What I WILL tell you is that all the recipes will be desserts, since that’s where my inspiration took me for each one. I had my fingers crossed that “The Ugly Duckling” would make the final cut because I knew exactly what recipe I wanted to make for it: meringue swans!

Using the meringue recipe I developed for my upcoming cookbook (and my tried and true buttercream recipe), I made these fun swans on Monday while my sick kids took a much needed nap. It took a little bit of experimenting to get the shape right, but it was SO worth it in the end.

NOTE: The meringues need to rest in the oven for at least 3 hours (overnight is even better), so I recommend making these a day before you need them.

Dragon Flame Meringue Cookies

Posted July 26, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Time for our Wizard of Earthsea dessert! While I was developing this menu, I knew I wanted to have a recipe dedicated to the dragons. There isn’t a specific one mentioned in the book, and none of the savory ideas I came up with felt right. Then I thought of making a flame-themed dessert.

One of the tricky things about blogging for almost 5 years is that sometimes the ideas you get for new recipes are too similar to something you’ve posted in the past. Flame cupcakes were the first thing that came to mind, but I made them before for my Hunger Games menu and couldn’t think of a way to make a second version unique enough. Then cookies came to mind, but plain old sugar cookies just felt too boring.

Then I thought of meringue! It’s one of my favorite desserts to play with, and I loved that meringue cookies would allow me to make tiny 3D clusters of flame. I whipped up my favorite meringue recipe (a combo of the instructions from my baked Alaska post and this Taste of Home recipe) and started experimenting—and came up with these little beauties! They were SO fun to make. I love that each one is different. It makes you want to take the time to really look at and appreciate them before you take a bite. Enjoy! 🙂

Toasted Meringue Cheesecake with Gingerbread Crust (part of my No Food Waste challenge!)

Posted March 13, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 2 Comments

As many of you know, I gave up food waste for Lent to help me develop the habit of using all the leftovers and extra ingredients I always have. I’ve improved in some areas, but I’ve also discovered new challenges (like actually finding time to MAKE the recipes I’ve planned out! lol). Since we’re about halfway through Lent, I figured now was the perfect time for another update, and I’m happy to say the the recipe I’m sharing today was a lot of fun and turned out great!

When I made my Wuthering Heights gingerbread manor, I had a bunch of leftover gingerbread scraps from trimming the baked cookies while they were still hot. As much as I love snacking on them (the Mister and the Little Mister do too!), it’s hard for two full-grown adults and a baby to eat a whole gingerbread house in a reasonable amount of time, even if you don’t count the cookie trimmings. I knew they’d go to waste if I didn’t find a use for them, so the brainstorming began.

I loved the idea of making a gingerbread cookie crust, but of course, you need something to fill the crust, right? Luckily, I also had some spare cream cheese and egg whites that needed using up as well. Thus, the idea of a meringue cheesecake was born! I used this cheesecake recipe and this meringue recipe, and I must say I’m very pleased with the results! The cheesecake recipe was easy, and it came out smooth and delicious. Plus, it looked great with the toasted meringue on top!

I think my favorite part was the balance of flavors. The light, fluffy meringue complimented the rich, creamy cheesecake, and the spice from the gingerbread was welcome without being overpowering. We ate it right up! 🙂

Fouquet’s Meringue Cookies with Peach Curd

Posted August 24, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

When I first decided to make a Man in the Iron Mask menu, I fell in love with the idea of making a traditional French dessert. And when I read about Monsieur Fouquet’s famous peaches, I knew my dessert would have a peach theme. I tossed around the idea of peach madeleines, but I already made madeleines for my Hobbit menu (and adding fruit to the batter can be tricky).

Peach macarons also came to mind, but I’ll admit I was a little intimidated. I’ve never tried to make the infamously difficult macaron before, and I wasn’t confident that I’d have enough time to perfect such a temperamental recipe. Then I hit on the idea of meringues.

I’ve had great luck making meringue in the past, and I liked the idea of trying it as a cookie, something I’ve tasted but never made for myself. I used a combination of recipes to get my cookies: the proportions and prep instructions come from my baked Alaska recipe and the baking instructions come from a Taste of Home meringue cookie recipe my mom recommended.

But how to add the peaches? Since meringue can be fussy, I didn’t want to mess with the flavoring too much, but I’ve had fruit curd on the brain since I recently finished developing a blueberry curd recipe for my cookbook. So I consulted a peach curd recipe from Chocolate Moosey and made adjustments to my blueberry version to suit the differences in the fruit.

The final cookies had crisp, delicately sweet meringue with clean lines from the piping (no cracks or melting—yay!), and the peach curd was silky and fruity. Top with a sprig of mint to contrast the sweetness, and you’re in business! 🙂

Cinnamon S’more Mini Baked Alaskas

Posted March 26, 2015 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments

I can’t adequately express to you how nervous/excited I’ve been to make this dessert. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at baked Alaska for years, and a menu based on a book about the Alaskan wilderness was a perfect excuse.