Recipes from Feb. 1, 2007
Fresh Flavors is featured in Hawaii’s Kitchen on KHON2 Hawaii’s
morning news on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Sponsored by HMSA.
For more recipes, visit Island Scene Online.
Meringue Kisses
1/2 cup egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
Orange zest (optional)
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 210 degrees F. Put egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar in large bowl
of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed. Gradually add half the sugar until egg
whites are quite thick. Add last half of the sugar and whisk until stiff. Place egg white
mixture in pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Form rosettes about 1 inch apart on baking
sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake about 2 hours or until dry in the middle.
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Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
Tempered dark chocolate (see below)
White coating chocolate, melted
Fresh strawberries, washed and dried well
Dip strawberries in the melted tempered chocolate and place on parchment-lined pan. Melt some
white coating chocolate; using a spoon, quickly flick it back and forth over the
chocolate-covered strawberries to create stripes.
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Mendiants
"Mendiants" are disks of chocolate topped with nuts and dried fruits.
Tempered dark chocolate (see below)
Dried fruits such as cranberries and cherries
Nuts such as almonds and pistachios
Fill pastry bag with tempered chocolate. You may also use a zip-top plastic bag with a small
corner cut out, or a parchment bag. On a parchment-lined baking pan, pipe quarter-sized
circles of chocolate. As chocolate begins to set, place a small piece of each dried fruit
and nut onto each.
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To Temper Chocolate
1 1/2 pounds tempered dark chocolate couveture*
Melt 1 pound of the chocolate to 115 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Add remaining half pound
and stir until melted. If the chocolate is not completely melted, blend with a hand blender
until smooth. The chocolate should be at 90-91 degrees F or below. If the chocolate is below
90 degrees, heat very carefully until it reaches this optimal temperature. Be very careful
not to go above 91 degrees or the chocolate will become untempered again, and the whole
process will have to be repeated.
*Couveture is a professional-quality coating chocolate that's very glossy. It contains a
minimum of 32 percent cocoa butter, which forms a much thinner shell than ordinary chocolate or
confectionary coating. Couverture can be found in specialty candy-making shops.
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