Meringes Rempli

A recipe by Louis Eustache Ude, chef to King Louis XVI

Makes 35-40 halves

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites

• small pinch of salt

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon or orange

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 225˚F.

2. Add the salt to the egg whites. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high until very stiff, at least 5 minutes (you should be able to turn the bowl upside down without the egg whites moving or falling out).

3. Add 3/4 cups sugar 1 teaspoon at a time to the egg whites while continuing to beat on high. After all of the sugar is added, beat the mixture for another couple of minutes. The egg whites will look glossy.

4. Add the extract and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar by folding them in gently. The mixture may get slightly softer.

5. Use a spoon to drop the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and try to shape each one to look like an egg cut in half. (The simplest way to achieve this is to drop the mixture off of the side of the spoon.)

6. Bake for 1 hour.

7. One method of serving these meringues is to hollow out each half with a sharp knife while it is still warm and fill with lemon curd, ice cream or the filling of your choice.

8. Another method is to let the meringues cool, the sandwich them together with whipped cream and fruit, such as raspberries or strawberries.