Meringue Gems

The other day, I was thinking about iced gems - those tiny little biscuits with hard pointy swirls of icing on top in candy colours that you got given at parties as a child. I never really liked them that much - the biscuit tasted dusty and the icing was hard enough to make indents in the roof of your mouth. Their only saving grace was their good looks. 

I decided that what would actually be really nice would be little biscuits with a pointy swirl of meringue on top. Why not? I've never seen these before, but they may well exist elsewhere. 

For my first test run I decided to keep it simple - plain little biscuits with vanilla meringue. I made up a batch of Good Food's basic biscuit dough with some almond flour added, and then used about half of it to make little circles, as above. Instead of potentially wasting it all on one batch, I stirred a load of chocolate chunks into the rest and made slice and bake cookies. I also only used half the meringue this time, but another time I'll make a full batch of the recipe below.

I baked them for a shorter time than normal and then set about piping meringue on top. I used a very basic meringue recipe and just added some vanilla extract for flavour.

I did a bit of an experiment and left half of the biscuits in the oven when I turned the oven off to see if they worked best crisp or marshmallowy. The unanimous decision was for marshmallowy, though the crisp ones were still really good.

This idea came out really well - I was so pleased. They're little buttery discs with a cloud of meringue on top, slightly crisp and squidgy in the middle with a little bit of chew.  They disappeared very quickly - I definitely could have got away with a whole batch!

I think the most exciting thing about these is the millions of variations that you could make - think about all the things you could change in the biscuit base, in the meringue - even put a tiny bit of jam or curd in between the two. I can't wait to start testing new ideas!

Meringue Gems

(Biscuit recipe based on this Good Food one)

For the biscuits:

250g butter

140g caster sugar

1 egg yolk

50g ground almonds

250g plain flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven 180C. Beat the butter and sugar together then add the egg yolk and vanilla. Sift the flour over the bowl and add the almonds. Beat together into a dough. Roll out to about half an inch thick. Cut out with a small circle cutter (mine was a little bit bigger than a 2p coin) and place on a baking sheet with a little space between each. Bake for 8 minutes or so until pale gold but not fully done.  Leave on the baking sheet to cool while you make the meringue.

For the meringue:

3 egg whites

170g caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Turn the oven down to 140C. Put the egg whites into a mixer and beat until you have stiff peaks. Slowly add the caster sugar until thick and glossy. Fold in the vanilla then transfer to a piping bag with a medium tip. Pipe small swirls of meringue onto each biscuit. Put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and stiff.  Remove from the oven to a cooling rack. 

Makes about 50.

Simple Baked Cheesecake

Despite my abiding love for making cheesecakes of various types (see chocolate, cherry and the ravishing raspberry and caramel) I've never actually made a baked cheesecake. You see, once you love the chilled version, why make a baked? I want a cheesecake I know will be yummy.

My mum was passing through a few nights ago and so I wanted to make her a nice dessert. In the interest of experimentation, I forced myself to make a baked cheesecake rather than a chilled one (by 'forced' I mean that I ran about getting awfully excited...).

I chose to make a fairly plain version with a simple digestive base, a baked vanilla middle and then a slick of sour cream on top. I bought some hideously overpriced but utterly gorgeous strawberries to pile on top. My 20cm tin wasn't deep enough so I had some mixture left over and that layer wasn't as deep.

I really enjoyed the cheesecake, especially with the strawberries. I have to say that I found the texture a little bit grainy but that could well be my fault. My flatmate - a bit of a cheesecake aficionado - decided that she still prefers the chilled version because on a scale, the baked version is nearer dessert. Make of that what you will!

Simple Baked Cheesecake
(barely adapted from the recipe for 'London Cheesecake' from Nigella's Domestic Goddess)

For the base:
150g digestive biscuits
75g butter

Bash the biscuits with a rolling pin until they are crumbs (or process). Melt the butter and stir it in (or process again) then press into a 20cm springform tin. Place into the fridge to set.
For the middle:
600g cream cheese
150g caster sugar
3 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth, then beat in the sugar. Beat the eggs and egg yolks together lightly and then pour into the cheese mix and blend in. Finally add in the vanilla and lemon juice. Put the kettle on. Tear two big squares of strong tin foil and place the chilled tin in the middle then fold them up over so water won't be able to get in. Place in a roasting tray. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the tin. Pour the hot water around the tin until it reaches about half way up the sides. Put it in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes or until it feels set but not solid. Remove the tin to a rack and unwrap.

For the topping:
100ml sour cream
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the three ingredients together then pour over the top of the cheesecake in the tin. Leave to cool and set, then remove from the tin to a plate and pop in the fridge. 30 minutes or so before serving, remove from the fridge. I then piled a punnet on strawberries on top.

(Serves about 10)