hile
we can find a recipe for Meringue
Mushrooms in Fannie Farmer's Original 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook, I
think we can credit Maida Heatter for their
popularity today. In her 1978 book "Book of Great Chocolate Desserts" she
tells the story of how she entered them in an international cooking Olympics and
that now she sees recipes in newspapers and
magazines that look just like the ones she made for the Olympics.
There are many
variations of her recipe but they all involve making a meringue from
egg whites and sugar. The meringue is then placed in a
pastry bag and piped into shapes that
look like mushroom 'caps' and 'stems'. After baking
in a slow oven the stems are attached to the caps in one of two ways; a little meringue
is used as a 'glue' to attach the stems to the caps
or you can use a little melted chocolate to 'glue' them together. Either
way is delicious. The finishing touch to make them look like real
mushrooms, is to dust the tops of the mushrooms with a light
sprinkling of cocoa powder. The beauty of these meringue mushrooms is
that they will keep, in dry humidity, several weeks. Serve the mushrooms
standing upright on a platter or they also look wonderful placed in a basket,
like in the picture. Meringue mushrooms have also become a popular garnish
for Buche de Noel (Yule Log).
This does seem
like a very long and involved recipe but the meringue mushrooms are really not
difficult to make. The instructions I have given are just in depth to
ensure excellent results. There are a few things to keep in mind when
making any meringue. First, make sure the egg whites are at room
temperature and free of any specks of egg yolk. Superfine sugar
(caster sugar) makes for a smoother
meringue as it is easier for the sugar to dissolve. Make sure the bowl and beaters are
clean and free of grease to obtain maximum volume. Adding the sugar
gradually to the egg whites ensures that the sugar completely dissolves and does
not produce a gritty meringue. Cream of tartar is used in the whipping of
egg whites to stabilize them and allows them to reach maximum volume.
Also, it is a good idea to use parchment paper or aluminum foil to line your
baking sheets, not wax paper, as the meringue will sometimes stick to wax paper. Distribute the caps and stems evenly
on the baking sheet to ensure even baking. You can put the 'caps' on one
sheet and 'stems' on another, if desired. To prevent cracking of the meringues,
do not open the oven door during the first half of the baking
time. Baking the meringues in a slow oven allows for gradual
evaporation of the moisture from the meringues. While I have glued the
caps and stems together with a little meringue, you can use melted chocolate. Simply melt a little
semi sweet chocolate and,
with a small spatula or spoon, spread a thin layer of chocolate over the
underside of the cap. Attach the stem and leave the mushroom
(upside down) until the chocolate hardens.
Line two baking sheets with
parchment paper and set aside. Have two pastry bags ready (one for
piping
the caps and stems and one for gluing them together). Fit one small pastry
bag with a number 3 (1/16 inch diameter) (.2 cm) round plain tip (used to glue
the stems and caps together) and one large pastry bag with a number 6 (1/2 inch
diameter) (1 1/4 cm) round plain tip (for stems and caps). Fold down the
tops of the bags to form a deep cuff on the outside and place each bag in a tall
narrow glass for support. This will make it easy to transfer the meringue
to the pastry bags.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F
(100 degrees C) and place 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the
oven.
In bowl of electric mixer, at
moderately slow speed, beat the room temperature egg whites until foamy.
Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form.
Continue beating (increasing speed to high), gradually adding the superfine
sugar, until the whites are very stiff and glossy. (You want to make sure
that the sugar has dissolved completely - to test rub a little of the meringue
between your fingers.)
With a rubber spatula place
approximately 1/4 cup of the meringue in the pastry bag with the small tip (used
to glue the caps and stems together). Place the remainder of the meringue
in the large pastry bag.
Holding the pastry bag upright
and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into
even rounds building up the meringue to form a 2 inch (5 cm)
round that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. Sharply twist the
bag and stop the pressure as you slowly move the tip off the meringue. Try
to make the top as smooth as possible but use a wet fingertip to smooth out any
bumps.
Holding the pastry bag upright
and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into a
cone-shape, making the base of the stem a little larger than the top. The
stem should be about 1 inch (2.54 cm) high. Try to keep the stems as
straight as possible. Some of the stems may fall over on their sides
during baking, so it is a good idea to make extra.
Bake the meringues for
approximately one hour, or until the mushrooms are firm enough that they can be
lifted from the baking sheet without sticking. Rotate the baking sheets
from top to bottom and front to back (about three quarters of the way through)
to ensure even baking.
Remove from oven and with a
small sharp knife, make a small hole in the middle of the underside of each
mushroom cap. Using the small pastry bag fitted with the 1/l6 inch tip,
pipe a little bit of meringue in the hole and gently press the top of the stem
into the hole.
Place the mushrooms, caps down,
on a parchment lined baking sheet and return to oven for about 15 - 30 minutes, or
until the mushroom are dry. Remove from oven and lightly
dust the tops of
the mushrooms with cocoa powder. Use a small pastry or paint brush to
smudge the cocoa powder, if desired.
Store in an airtight container
for several weeks.
Makes about 24 - 30 mushrooms
(depending on size)
Adapted from Maida
Heatter 's
Book of Great Chocolate Desserts and Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas
Cookies
Meringue:
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup (100 grams) superfine
(caster) white
sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take granulated white
sugar and process it for about 30 seconds in a food processor).
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