I was lucky enough to win a selection of different flavoured icing sugar when I entered a Bake Behaviour competition. However, typically, I never got round to using all of the flavours. So today I set myself a challenge to make something with the Pineapple flavoured icing sugar.
I decided to make some meringues. Adding the Pineapple flavoured icing sugar would add a nice fruity taste to the meringue. If I also added desiccated coconut I could achieve a tropical flavour in the meringue and also add a different texture. Yellow food colouring would add to the appearance of the final dish.
Because the meringues are very high in sugar I did not want the final dish to be high in fat also,so I served my meringues with a portion of Quark and fresh pineapple. I had to do something to make this dessert a less guilty pleasure.
Conclusion, this flavoured icing sugar is well worth trying. The flavour gives a natural hint of pineapple to the sweet meringue. The coconut adds a nice texture and seems to cut through the sweetness.
Ingredients
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
115g caster sugar
115g icing sugar (pineapple flavour, Available to purchase from http://www.sugarandcrumbsmixingitup.co.uk/ )
75g desiccated coconut
Yellow paste food colouring
Double cream or Quark for serving
Fresh pineapple to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to fan 100C/ conventional 110C/gas 1⁄4. Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick liner or parchment paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).
Tip the 4 large egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.
Now turn the speed up and start to add 115g caster sugar, a dessertspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It’s important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later. However, don’t over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy.
Sift one third of the 115g pineapple flavoured icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don’t over-mix. The mixture should now look smooth and billowy, almost like a snow drift.
Gently fold in the desiccated coconut with the spatula
Scoop up a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture. Using another dessertspoon, ease it on to the baking sheet to make an oval shape OR just drop them in rough rounds, if you prefer. OR fill a piping bag and pipe circles onto parchment paper.
Bake for 4-6 hours in a fan oven, 4-6 hours in a conventional or gas oven, until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale colour.
Turn off the oven and leave meringues to cool in the oven. on the trays. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.) Serve two meringues sandwiched together with a generous dollop of softly whipped double cream.
I served my meringues with Quark an fresh pineapple.
Sugar and Crumbs Flavoured Icing Sugar
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