Brazil Nut Meringues Recipes

HAZELNUT MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Line the back of a 12" x 18" rimmed sheet pan or a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 225F with the rack centered.
• Prepare meringue according to the recipe.
• Meanwhile, roughly chop 1 cup of hazelnuts. If you're planning to pipe your meringue with a piping tip, you will need to chop the hazelnuts very fine so they do not clog up the tip.
• Add chopped hazelnut pieces to the whipped meringue.
• Carefully, with folding motion (going under, and over) incorporate the hazelnuts into the meringue with minimal amount of strokes.
• Fit a pastry bag with a large french open star tip and fill the bag with hazelnut meringue.
• Pipe the stars onto parchment paper in 25-30 mounts spacing them about 1- 1.5 inches apart OR use two spoons to spoon the meringues. Sprinkle meringues with chopped hazelnuts if you wish. You can make the mounts as even or rough as you want.
• Bake in preheated to 225F oven for 2 hours. To check if the hazelnut meringues are done drying, remove one meringue and break it in half. Let cool and check the center. If the center is dry, the meringues are done.Turn off the oven, leave the oven door ajar by putting a wooden spoon in the crack. Allow to completely cool.

AUNT GRETA'S WALNUT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
• Whip the egg white with a whip attachment until stiff.
• Add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt and continue whipping until stiff and glossy. Fold in the walnuts.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment lined sheet pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool and remove from the pan. Store in an airtight container.

NUTTY MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, using a hand beater, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and vanilla until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the sugar dissolves and stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gently fold in the chopped nuts.
• Drop the batter onto silicone mats or parchment lined baking sheets (will need 2) with a teaspoon, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Bake until the meringues are dried through, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The cookies will remove easily from the parchment or silicone mat when ready.
• Cook's Note: Do not bake on humid days. Dye these any color to suit a seasonal event. For orange cookies, add 5 drops of food coloring.

VARIATION: NUT MERINGUE

Steps:

• Before making the meringue, whirl the almonds in a food processor fitted with the metal blade until finely ground. Add the cornstarch and whirl again. Make Meringue. Fold ground almond mixture into finished meringue by hand.
• Here, cornstarch insulates the meringue from the fat in the nuts, which would otherwise cause it to break down.
• Easy way to pipe out disks of a particular size: trace a plate or other object of appropriate size onto parchment paper. The turn the paper over and use the circles as your guide. Start piping in the center and form a tight spiral out to the edge.

ORANGE BRAZIL NUT TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10 inch round cake pan with parchment paper, butter and flour.
• In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Add the orange zest and vanilla, whip until light and fluffy and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of the Brazil nuts with the flour and set aside. Reserve the remaining nuts for the garnish.
• In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle in the salt and continue beating until soft peaks form. Alternate folding in the nut and flour mixture, and the beaten yolk mixture, until combined. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Set on a rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge to loosen and invert onto a platter. Remove the parchment let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place cake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Working over a bowl to catch the juices, peel the grapefruits and oranges and cut between the membranes to remove the sections. Remove the seeds. Arrange the sections over the cake. Pour the juice through a strainer and drizzle over the cake.
• In mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the sugar, whisking until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Gently fold in the reserved 1 cup of ground Brazil nuts.
• Spread the meringue evenly over the cake and bake 1/2 hour. Cool on a rack and serve.