Ingredients required:—One pound of sifted sugar and twelve whites of eggs.
Whisk the whites in an egg-bowl, until they present the appearance of a perfectly white smooth substantial froth resembling snow; then substitute a spoon for the whisk, and proceed to mix in the whole of the sugar lightly; carefully avoid working the batter too much, for fear of rendering it soft, as in that case it becomes difficult to mould the meringues: they can never be so gracefully shaped as when it is kept firm.
Meringues a la Creme
Next, cut some stiff foolscap paper into bands, about two inches wide; then take a tablespoon, and gather it nearly full of the batter by working it up at the side of the bowl in the form of an egg, and drop this slopingly upon one of the bands of paper, at the same time drawing the edge of the spoon sharply round the outer base of the meringue, so as to give to it a smooth and rounded appearance, in order that it may exactly resemble an egg.
Proceed in this manner until the band is full, keeping the meringues about two inches and a half apart from each other on the paper. As each band is filled, place them close beside each other on the slab or table, and when all the batter is used up, shake some rather coarse-sifted sugar all over them, and allow it to remain for about three minutes; then take hold of one of the bands at each end, shake off the loose sugar, and place the band of meringues on the board,* and so on with the other bands, which when placed carefully on the boards closely side by side, must be put in the oven (at very moderate heat), and baked of a light-fawn colour.
When done, each piece of meringue must be carefully removed off the paper, the white part of the inside scooped out with a dessert-spoon, and then nicely smoothed over; after this they must be placed in neat order on a baking-sheet, and put back again in the oven to dry, taking particular care that they do not acquire any more colour.
When about to send the meringues to table, whip some double cream; season it with a little pounded sugar, and either a glass of any kind of liqueur, a few drops of orange-flower water, or some pounded vanilla: garnish each piece with a spoonful of this cream; join two together; dish them up in a pyramidal form on a napkin, and serve.
Note.—Meringues may be made of all sizes, and may also be shaped in the form of small bunches of grapes; for this puipose it is necessary to use a " cornet" or biscuit-forcer, of paper, to mould the berries. In order to vary their appearance previously to shaking the sugar over them, some finely-shred pistachios or almonds, rough granite-sugar, and small currants, may be strewn over them. They may also be garnished with preserve, or any kind of iced-creams.
* These boards must be made of seasoned wood, and should he about an inch thick: their size must of course depend upon the dimensions of the oven, allowing suilioicnt room for them to be turned round in it.