A Swedish Childhood Dessert
As you will know when I got my Foodie Parcel last month, I was very excited to receive a broken meringue as part of a lovely package. I promised Teresa that I would blog the recipe for Meringue Suisse, which I knew I was going to make as soon as I saw the broken meringue.
This is a dessert that the Big Guy had often in his childhood. In Sweden. I am not really sure where the Swiss thing came from, although I could probably surmise something about Swiss chocolate, or the fact that it resembles the Matterhorn or something.
This time, I made the basic recipe, and used good quality vanilla ice cream from the shop. As with most simple recipes, the better quality the ingredients, the better the final dish will be. Teresa’s meringue and chocolate were both of such quality that I didn’t want to mess around with the recipe too much.
The basic recipe I give here is pretty simple, but you can play around with it, if you like. Try adding soft fruits (the Big Guy’s family add bananas, but I’ll be having none of that!). You can make it fancy by making your own ice cream or meringue, or you could even make praline or do a bit of sugar work. Crumbled amaretti biscuits could also be a very good topping.
What other toppings or additions would you choose?
Recipe: Meringue Suisse
Ingredients
Good quality vanilla ice cream
1-2 tsp slivered almonds
60 g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
15o ml whipping cream (to be used in 2 parts)
Knob of butter
1 meringue, broken into pieces
Method
Remove the ice cream from the freezer, so it can soften to a scoopable consistency.
Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan. You will need to watch them carefully, and stir them often, as they catch easily. Once they are a nice golden colour on both sides, remove from the pan, to prevent them from cooking any further.
Combine the chocolate, 50 ml of the cream and the butter in a saucepan. Cook over a very low heat until the chocolate has melted. Don’t stir it at this stage.
Meanwhile, whip up the remaining cream to soft peaks.
Once the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat and stir the sauce well to combine it. It may look a little grainy at first. Don’t worry, keep stirring it and it will become a smooth and glossy sauce. Allow to cool slightly, so that it does not melt the ice cream immediately.
Scoop enough ice cream for two people into a bowl, and combine with the meringue. You will need to have reasonably soft ice cream for this. Put the ice cream and meringue mix into serving bowls and top with the whipped cream.
Pour over the chocolate sauce and sprinkle with the toasted almonds. The chocolate sauce should go a wonderfully fudgey texture when it hits the cold of the ice cream.
This is a very easy dessert, but one that looks and tastes impressive. The only question is how will you top yours?
ediblethings 