As it was such a toasty
warm day, I wanted to make a fresh and summery treat. A slice of cake
just wouldn't cut it; I was on the hunt for a fruity dessert. When I
came across this recipe for an apricot and almond meringue gateau I
knew that I had struck gold. It sounded absolutely delicious. The
amount of work required was a little daunting but it sounded as
though it would be well worth the effort.
I already had most of
the ingredients but still needed to get some dried apricots and
double cream. Isaac was desperately in need of some new shoes so we
decided to spend our morning traipsing around shops in the scorching
heat!! It was some time before our wilting bodies arrived home. I was
well and truly cooked! By late afternoon I had just enough energy to
shuffle into the kitchen to make a start on the meringue.
Making the meringue
itself was relatively straightforward. I simply had to whisk the egg
whites until stiff, and then add a teaspoonful of sugar at a time. It
was hard to resist the urge to tip in the whole quantity of sugar in
one go and forgo the boredom. Once or twice I dared to add two
teaspoonfuls at a time – I like to live life on the edge!! After
all the sugar had been added I carried on whisking until the mixture
was very stiff and standing in peaks. I was really proud of my
meringue. I think it's the first time I've managed to get the peaks
to stand to attention; they usually flop! The last ingredient for the
meringue was the ground almonds. When I'd read the recipe header I
had assumed that almond essence would be used for flavour, so I was
pleased to be using the real McCoy! I carefully folded the ground
almonds into the thick meringue and then spooned the mixture onto two
lined baking trays. Mary says to spread into circles 8 inches in
diameter. To avoid odd sized meringues, I had located a ruler and
measured two equal circles. Get me!!!!
As the meringues cooked
for just over an hour on a very low heat, I resumed my position on
the sofa and fanned myself with a magazine (Isaac is frightened of
our desk fan)!! When the cooking time was complete I went to check on
the two meringues. Mary says they are ready when they peel away from
the paper. Thankfully she's kind enough to point out that we
shouldn't worry if they stick in the middle as it is a sticky
meringue. I was relieved to hear this as both mine were sticky and,
as I moved them onto a wire rack, they cracked and broke apart. If
this had happened when I'd first started this challenge I would
probably have burst into tears and given up. I must have learnt to
laugh off mistakes as I just sighed “Oh well”!
Now it was time to make
the apricot filling. I tipped a small quantity of apricots into my
smallest saucepan, along with some water and a strip of lemon rind. I
was to heat this gently for about twenty minutes or until the
apricots were very tender. While they cooked I went outside to play.
On our shopping trip we'd seen a combined plastic sandpit and
paddling pool on special offer. We couldn't resist as it would be
perfect for this weather. Isaac wasn't sure about the sandpit so, in
an attempt to reassure him, I made sandcastles and sieved the sand. I
had a great time! He soon warmed to the paddling pool once he'd
overcome the initial chill. He LOVED splashing his poor mummy and was
in absolute fits of giggles. Eventually I had to leave the fun and
take my soggy body back into the kitchen to check on the apricots.
A waft of burning hit
my nostrils as soon I walked in through the door. On close
inspection, the pan had boiled dry and a delightful brown coating had
glued to the bottom. The apricots were of course inedible – whoops!
I brought out another small pan, (this time non stick) and started
again. Thank goodness I had enough apricots. This time I was careful
to keep a watchful eye on the pan! Once the apricots were tender I
plucked them out and placed them into the blender. There wasn't
enough for the blades to catch hold of, so I ended up adding the
water from the pan plus a little more from the tap. That did the
trick and I soon had smooth (well almost) purée. It smelt delicious.
I measured more water
into the pan and tipped in some granulated sugar. Once the sugar had
dissolved, I squeezed in a little lemon juice and boiled it steadily
for three minutes to make a sugar syrup. This would be put to use
later, so I left it on the side to cool.
Funny how a meringue is
low fat until you add the artery clogging cream! I poured a hefty
amount into a bowl and whisked it until it was just holding its
shape. At this point a dripping wet child padded in through the back
door in floods of tears. My first thought was that Isaac had hurt
himself. I picked him up, forgetting that he was soaking wet, nice!!!
I didn't feel quite so sorry for him when Neil informed me that Isaac
didn't want to come inside and leave his paddling pool. The world as
Isaac knew it was over! Thankfully, it doesn't take much to cheer up
a toddler and, a few minutes later, I heard him happily splashing in
the bath and Neil singing to him at the top of his lungs. I'm sure
our neighbours look forward to bath time!
Now I just had to
finish off the dessert; I was nearly there! I folded one-third of the
apricot mixture into almost all of the cream. My mouth was literally
watering as it looked so good! I sandwiched the two flat and broken
meringues together with the apricot cream, performing first aid as I
went. Now it was time to carry out the finishing touches. I dusted
over some icing sugar, then piped rosettes around the edge of the
meringue using the remaining cream. The last little bit of apricot
purée was not to be forgotten. I diluted it with the sugar syrup. It
was to be used as a sauce. I tried to take a decent photograph.
However, the meringue, cream and dusting of icing sugar made for a
very white dessert. I found it impossible to take a passable photo! I
wasn't too fussed as I was keen to dive in and have a taste.
It was just as I
imagined it would be – absolutely divine! We all loved it. I
believe the key reason for its success is the perfect combination of
the almond and apricot flavours. They worked beautifully together. It
is the perfect summer dessert. It was perhaps a little faffy to make
but it really was worth it.
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| Just realised that the plates don't match!!!! |
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