Meringue pie can be tricky to prepare. We figure out how to make a perfect lemon meringue pie with a sky-high topping that doesn't weep.
Among my German friends, there may be no Christmas cookie more popular than the beautiful Zimtsterne: thick and chewy star-shaped cookies topped with a drift of white meringue that shatters under your teeth. Just the mention of them never fails to elicit deep longing sighs and a faraway look in people’s eyes. Flavored only with cinnamon and the naturally toasty flavor of roasted almonds, Zimtsterne are a study in what is possible with simple ingredients and a little elbow grease. Making Zimtsterne requires some stamina. The dough is sticky, fine motor skills are required for painting on the meringue, and you need lots of counter space to let them dry overnight before baking them. But the effort is all worthwhile. There is much debate about how to bake Zimtsterne so that the cookie stays soft and chewy and the meringue as white as possible. I’ve tried every method out there, but find that drying the cookies overnight and then baking them briefly is the best way.
Never underestimate the pleasures of meringue. Simple to the point of plain, meringue delivers delight with every messy bite. As neat as you may be, it’s impossible to eat a meringue without producing a pile of shards and crumbs, and that’s part of the cookie’s charm.
For the meringues:
I learned this nougat while working on the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, wherein executive pastry chef Sebastien Rouxel makes a version for the bakery. I've simplified his recipe for the home kitchen (corn syrup instead of glucose and no cocoa butter, which he uses to get a cleaner cut). But it all basically comes down to the temperature you cook the sugar to; because it's added hot to the egg whites, it ultimately cooks the whites and becomes a foamy white candy into which nuts and fruit are stirred. I love the combination of pistachio, almond, cashew, and cherry, but virtually any toasted nuts or dried fruits can be used.
There is not a woman of any age whose heart will not beat a little more quickly when this gorgeous sweet is placed on the table.
Blurring the lines between ice cream and mousse, simplicity and finesse, nostalgia and novelty, this is the kind of dessert that’s hard to categorize but easy to love.
Egg whites are the key element in this recipe.