Meringues
What greater pleasure than a mouth-watering dessert that isn't so laden with calories that you cringe when you climb on the scale the next day?
Basically, you make meringue by beating together room temperature egg whites and sugar in either a crystalline or syrup form.
There are different types of meringue: soft or ordinary or European meringues such as French, Italian and Swiss.
Enter spring fruits... Let luscious spring fruit like strawberries, rhubarb and pineapple be your springboard to light desserts.
Tips:
After you have finished whipping the egg whites, use them immediately; they'll start deflating in 5 minutes or so.
Start with a base that is inherently low fat, like meringues or angel cake or fruit salad or sorbet.
You can just about put anything you want in meringue, just because they're so neutral in flavor -espresso, chopped orange zest, ginger, cinnamon. You can also put cocoa powder in for that chocolate flavor without the fat.
Use fruit as a garnish or a sauce or both. Try preparing fruit in different ways, like poached or sauteed, as well as fresh.
The challenge in making perfect meringue is neither to under nor overbeat the eggs. Underbeating introduces too little air, and the batter will rise inadequately. If overbeaten (read recipe carefully for the terms "soft peaks" and "stiff peaks"), the mixture can separate. However, overbeating will cause the proteins to lose their ability to hold the small air bubbles causing it to lose volume or collapse.
