Rose Petal & Pistachio Meringues

I recently made some chocolate leaves using rose leaves. The roses actually ended up serving a triple purpose...making the chocolate leaves, adding some aesthetic appeal to my lounge and the third use was making rose petal sugar.

I made the rose petal sugar by putting 240g of caster sugar and a small handful of rose petals into a pestle and mortar and then gently bashing them together. Both the sugar and rose petals were then tipped into a jar and sealed. This mixture was in the jar for two weeks before I used it.

The recipe calls for chopped pistachios which were incorporated into the meringue mixture and sprinkled on top.

These were simple to make and the mixture made about 8 moderately sized meringues that were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

These rose petal and pistachio meringues actually turned out better than I expected, although I did think they'd have a slightly rosier taste. I think if I made them again I might try 2 teaspoons of rose water but overall a tasty bake which I imagine could be modified by using other flavours such as orange water etc.

Ingredients

4 egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp rose water
60g shelled, unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped

Rose Petal Sugar

240g caster sugar
small handful of rose petals

In order to make these meringues you will need to make the rose petal a week or two in advance. I washed my rose petals first but if you do this they need to be thoroughly dry before using them. Put the sugar and rose petals in a pestle and mortar and gently bash them together before tipping both the petals and sugar into a dry jar which should then be sealed.

Whenever you make meringues always ensure there is no grease in the bowl or on the whisk, they should be really clean. Prepare a baking sheet or tray with baking parchment which should be non-stick and preheat the oven to 150c/130c fan/gas 2.

Seperate the eggs into whites and yolks and then put the 4 egg whites in your clean bowl, beat until stiff. Add the rose petal sugar, a spoonful at a time, to the egg whites whilst whisking. Beat well after each spoonful until you have added all the sugar, this should make the mixture stiff and glossy.

Add the rosewater...the initial recipe said 1 tsp but the meringues didn't necessarily taste that much of rose, so if I was going to make these again I might add 2 tsp...but you can choose. Also add two thirds of the pistachios and fold them in with a metal spoon.

The mixture is now ready, spoon it onto the baking tray in large dollops. Scatter the remaining third of the pistachios over the top of the meringues before putting them straight in the oven. As soon as they go in you should turn the temperature down to 110c/90c fan/gas 1/4. Bake the meringues for an hour and a quarter, you should be able to lift them off the baking sheet without them sticking. Finally, turn off the oven and leave the meringues in until they dry out and the oven temperature has cooled. This could even be overnight. These meringues will keep in an airtight tin for 3-4 days.

*  Adapted from Christmas Heaven Magazine

Lychee, Rose & Raspberry Mousse Cake

This month a new baking challenge was launched - AlphaBakes. The idea is that each month a letter of the alphabet is randomly generated, your entry should then have a main ingredient beginning with this letter. The challenge comes courtesy of the The More Than Occassional Baker and Caroline Makes. This month's letter is 'L' which is fortunate as February is the month of Love. So therefore, here is my entry for AlphaBakes...made with Lychees and Love!

I went for an adventurous entry this month, using an ingredient I've never baked with before...Lychees. I made a Lychee, Rose and Raspberry Mousse Cake. The cake is inspired by Pierre Herme who created the Ispahan, which is a rose, lychee and raspberry macaroon. The recipe for my bake came from The Pleasure Monger.

This was certainly a labour of love and took several hours to make! I would definitely recommend giving it a go, however...just make sure that you like the person you're making it for... A LOT! :-)

First up was making the sponge base. This was made by making a meringue mix and then adding flour, egg yolks and flours. The base was then cut out using a ring mold and covered with a sugar syrup made with lychee juice. Next up was a lychee mousse, made with milk, vanilla paste and rosewater amongst other ingredients. This was made by boiling the milk and then whisking in the other ingredients.

To assemble the mousse cake, the sponge base was placed in the ring mold and a layer of mousse piped on top, followed by cut raspberries facing outwards and a layer of lychees inside this. Next up another layer of mousse, before making a raspberry jelly using rosewater, lychee juice, raspberries, sugar and gelatine leaves. This was poured over the mousse cake and left to set in the fridge.

As you can see, the result is a very pretty little dessert! It's not quite as perfect as I would of liked, but something to work on next time as you never know how it's going to turn out before it comes out of the mold!