Meringue Mushrooms
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Yield
Makes about 30
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You will need a pastry bag and pastry tip with a 1/2-inch round opening, available at craft stores, for this recipe. As long as the meringues are stored in an airtight container directly after cooling, they may be made up to 2 weeks before assembling. This will make more mushrooms than you need, so you can select your favorites for decorating your Yule log.
Instructions
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place egg whites in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk. Beat at medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar and salt, increase speed to medium-high, and continue to beat until whites hold soft peaks, about 1 minute. With mixer running, slowly add sugar. Increase speed to high and continue to beat until mixture is very thick and holds stiff peaks, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Fit pastry bag with pastry tip, and fill with meringue. To form mushroom caps, pipe 30 rounds on prepared baking sheet. Moisten fingertip with cool water and smooth tops of caps. To shape mushroom stems, hold pastry bag perpendicular to second prepared baking sheet. Squeeze meringue through tip as you pull bag up to form 30 (1-inch) stems. Bake meringue for 2 hours, turn oven off, and leave meringue in oven until dry and crisp, about 30 minutes.
- To assemble: Use skewer to bore 1/4-inch hole in center of underside of each cap. Warm chocolate in microwave until just melted, about 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds. Transfer chocolate to zipper-lock bag. Cut small hole in corner of bag. Fill holes in caps with chocolate, and insert pointed ends of stems. Position mushrooms upside down until chocolate is set, about 20 minutes.
Yield
Makes about 30Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
We wanted a recipe for a showcase roulade, with a velvety texture and a not-too-sweet chocolate flavor. Our best roulade recipe used bittersweet or semisweet chocolate for maximum chocolate flavor, six eggs, and a combination of cocoa and flour for structural support. We found that unmolding the cake onto a kitchen towel rubbed with cocoa powder prevented sticking and that rolling the cake up while it was warm with the towel inside, cooling it briefly, and then unrolling it resulted in a cake that retained its rolled memory and was easily filled and rolled later on. Meringue mushrooms turn this cake into a holiday Yule log.
Before You Begin
You will need a pastry bag and pastry tip with a 1/2-inch round opening, available at craft stores, for this recipe. As long as the meringues are stored in an airtight container directly after cooling, they may be made up to 2 weeks before assembling. This will make more mushrooms than you need, so you can select your favorites for decorating your Yule log.
Instructions
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place egg whites in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk. Beat at medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar and salt, increase speed to medium-high, and continue to beat until whites hold soft peaks, about 1 minute. With mixer running, slowly add sugar. Increase speed to high and continue to beat until mixture is very thick and holds stiff peaks, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Fit pastry bag with pastry tip, and fill with meringue. To form mushroom caps, pipe 30 rounds on prepared baking sheet. Moisten fingertip with cool water and smooth tops of caps. To shape mushroom stems, hold pastry bag perpendicular to second prepared baking sheet. Squeeze meringue through tip as you pull bag up to form 30 (1-inch) stems. Bake meringue for 2 hours, turn oven off, and leave meringue in oven until dry and crisp, about 30 minutes.
- To assemble: Use skewer to bore 1/4-inch hole in center of underside of each cap. Warm chocolate in microwave until just melted, about 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds. Transfer chocolate to zipper-lock bag. Cut small hole in corner of bag. Fill holes in caps with chocolate, and insert pointed ends of stems. Position mushrooms upside down until chocolate is set, about 20 minutes.
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