Italian meringhe

Macaron has become a fashion in culinary field, and for those who love baking, surely they have to try them at least once. When we visited Paris, we recognized that Macaron is everywhere, in so many types, sizes, and tastes (some even tried to modify it in a salty way with Parmesan cheese); Somehow, in Italy, or at least in my city, macaron seems not exist. I once asked my colleague who used to work with me in the bakery about Macaron, and she barely had an idea what macaron was. the reason would be simple that first: The Italian dont fancy the French food, second: they dont have super sweet tooth like French people, third: Macaron is just a type of meringhe which is popular and  simple in Italy. (actually, i was surprise when chef Pino whom i took the macaron course with in PAris told me that Pierre used Italian meringhe technique to invent his world-wide famous macaron).

By the way, i was not very fond of Macaron, therefore, after the cooking class, i didnt try it at home.

So you can see that macaron has a very close connection with meringhe which i have made a big batch today. ;)
Meringhe is much more simple than macaron, cus it is basically made from egg white and icing sugar. (meanwhile macaron contains almond ground which would make the baking process more complicated). And guess what? in ITalian pasticceria, we prefer french meringhe technique instead of Italian technique, cus it's easier, and quicker.

so to make meringhe, we need:

• 200 gr egg white (around 7 egg whites)
• 440 gr icing sugar
• vanilla essence or almond essence
• Color

MEthod:

Beat the egg white with icing sugar and essence till hard stiff. 

Mix them with color (Wilton is the best!)

Transfer the batter in a decorating bag and make small bubbles as picture

Prepare oven around 80 celsius, bake meringhe around 1 hour, till they become dry and easy to remove from the baking paper. 

Let them cool down and store in ziplog bag. 

*For mandorline: (literally translated as little almonds) is a stype of meringhe with almond, which enriches the sweet with its crunchiness and taste. 

You can mix the batter directly with toasted almond and then pump the batter on baking tray, and bake as usual, or you can make it like me by pumping the batter first, then lay the almond on top-with this way, we have a little cute mandorline, meanwhile with the traditional method, the sweet has no shape and kinda messy. 

To serve meringhe: in Italy, we simply glaze the dark chocolate on top, or we make a pair of meringhe with whipping cream at the middle. :) Or sometimes, you can find a big meringhe with whipping cream and fresh strawberries on top ;) 

My mom in law is crazy about mandorline, so here are some junk food for her! ;)