This Cake May Contain Nuts

My fellow Bite Clubbers, I cannot believe I am writing to you on the very cusp of December, and thus, the holiday season. I just checked the date of my last post (September?!) and gasped. Time flies when you're busy, and I've been busy in spades!

CHRISTMAS ALREADY!?

It's not a wonder I haven't sat down with you guys for a chat or a bite to eat! Honestly, if Rebekah hadn't been so generously sharing her meals with me over the past 2 months, I would be A) emaciated or B) living on cold cuts, cheese, almonds and coffee.

But-- I digress. With Christmas coming and my classes almost finished, I can see the never ending landscape of essays, presentations, and articles disappearing, and on the horizon, there's something amazing waiting: holiday baking! Christmas is the one time I can justify going completely off-the-wall-and-deck-the-halls insane. There are always neighbours and family to share the love (and the cookies) with. In fact, I've already started my descent into seasonal bakemania.

So let's talk about fruitcake. Yeah I went there: fruitcake AKA Christmas cake AKA there's-a-joke-about-a-doorstop-in-here-somewhere. Oddly enough, my fascination with this vilified holiday confection did not begin in the kitchen, but in the classroom. The final project for one of my courses this semester is a research paper; we are allowed to compose it about literally whatever we want. I wanted to write it about Alexis Soyer, a French cook/inventor who fell off of the face of history, but I couldn't find enough books about him. So I had to turn to...alternative options...

In short, I'm writing an academic research paper worth 50% of my grade on why fruitcake is so unpopular. I'm going to use it as a weird party story, or throw people off with it in games of "two truths and a lie." People usually cringe at the very mention of fruitcake, but it used to be the cake of kings, literally. Queen Victoria's wedding cake was a dense, one layer plum confection. Even recently, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, aka Kate Middleton and Prince William, served an eight tier frosted fruit cake as their wedding cake! Still, to the general public, it remains a joke and a pariah. Even I realized I have bias against fruitcake although I had never even tried it! How ridiculous is that? When have I ever turned my back on cake without giving it a chance first? There was only one thing to do and that was to tame the beast for myself and then EAT IT.

So here we are. This beauty is currently sitting on my counter, marinating in brandy, waiting to be brought home to a family who will (hopefully) enjoy it along with me! If you hate raisins (looking at you-- the ENTIRE WORLD) substitute it for more of another kind of fruit! That's right, no excuses, you have to try this.

First Time Fruitcake

Serves 10 (If you can find that many people who like Fruitcake.)
Adapted from Alton Brown 

Ingredients
1 cup Sultana raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup brandy

1 cup sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks)
1 cup water
4 whole cloves, ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pecans, broken
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

1.  Combine raisins, currants, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, apricots, zest, ginger and brandy in a glass bowl. Stir to combine, and let soak for 1-5 days, stirring once each day.

2. Put the fruit in a large saucepan with the sugar, butter, water and spices. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is thick and syrupy. Remove from heat, let stand for a minimum of 15 minutes.

3. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda and powder. When the fruit mixture has adequately cooled, dump this dry mixture in all at once and quickly beat it together with a wooden spoon.

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then fold in the pecans.

5. Move the batter into a 10-inch loaf pan, either nonstick or grease generously with butter, smoothing the surface to make it tidy.

6. Bake for one hour, then check the middle of the cake for done-ness with a butter knife. If it is not finished, add time in 5-10 minute intervals until it is done.

7. Baste the top with brandy, then allow the cake to cool in the loaf pan before running a knife thoroughly around the edge to set it loose.

8. Wrap the cake in airtight plastic wrap, and unwrap every two days or so to baste with more brandy. You want to keep this up for at least two weeks for optimum flavour, but fruitcakes can be aged for a month or even longer!

9. Slice and serve!

I Am Jack's Step by Step Photos

1. Combine dried fruit, zest and brandy in a bowl. Cover in plastic wrap and soak overnight, or for up to 5 days.

 

2. When you are ready to bake the actual cake, put the fruit, sugar, butter, water, and spices in a large saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently until it is melted together, cohesive and syrupy. Remove from heat and let cool for a least 15 minutes. 

3. In the meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder, and salt. Whisk.

4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. When the fruit mixture is cool enough, add the flour mixture to the fruit mixture, beating quickly with a wooden spoon to combine. Add the eggs one by one, beating until fully incorporated. The batter will be glossy, thick and very heavy. 

5. Transfer the batter into a 10 inch loaf pan, and bake for 1 hour. Check the center with a knife and add 5-10 minutes if it is not finished, consequently, until it is finished baking. 

6. Baste the top of the cake with brandy after it has been taken under the oven. Allow the cake to cool in the pan completely before cutting it loose. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap, or put it in an airtight container. Every two days, baste or spritz the cake with brandy. "Season" the cake for at least two weeks, but you can keep this practice up for a month. Slice and serve!

Although I technically haven't TRIED this cake yet, I don't think Alton Brown would lead us astray. This is definitely not the last post you'll see on the subject of the notorious fruitcake. Perhaps a taste test is on the way? Welcome back, Bite Clubbers, and welcome home! 

(Cara)mellow Out

I've been at war with myself. I was hit by a lightning bolt-- the idea that I could make a career out of food, specifically baking, even more specifically bread. In the past, I've written off my interest in food as a hobby. My mom once suggested I go to culinary school and I'm pretty sure I laughed at her. Food is my playtime, where I go to escape from stress, was it worth looking into as a job? Would it ruin my time in the kitchen?

But now I'm not laughing. I'm probably the opposite of laughing by having a mini quarter life crisis, or at least parallel to laughing, mooning over the romantic notion of getting up in the dead of night to go to work, bake fresh bread, handmake croissants, drink black coffee and watch the sun come up through the front window of the bakery. Sigh. The draw of hands on, hard work. Bread, sweat and tears.

While I pondering this 180 degree turn in life, I hit the library to find some books on baking, the industry, French pastry, basically any information I can get my hands on. Among them was Butter Cream, a non-fiction book by Denise Roig, a professor at Concordia (my university) who took a year off to go to pastry school and write about it.

Roig's stories about tarts and triumph, buttercream and breakdowns both pushed me towards the edge, making me pine for a world I don't know, while also putting the fear of the pastry Gods in me. The book is chock full of the trials and tribulations of not only the author, but her classmates, who several times over the course of the book all have moments of "I cannot TAKE THIS ANYMORE." She talks about the insane hours bakers and pastry chefs work, and still, I can't help but think.... Is it insane if you love it? How much do I love it? I finished the book in under a week.

The other cool thing about the book is that some of the teachers at the pastry school allowed the author to republish some of the recipes she mastered in her time there. One such recipe is today's blog: Crème Caramel. A base of lightly sweetened custard, capped off and and soaking luxuriously in a bath of caramel. So at least while I'm having thoughts about the direction of my life, I have something sweet to stew over it with. (Psst....another great thing about this dessert is that you can make it a day ahead, and it's served cool-- a nice, elegant dessert for warm summer weather.)

Crème Caramel

Makes 6 ramekins

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

2 cups milk (preferably 3.25% or 2%)
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

1. Make the caramel by combining the water and the 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. The mixture will start to bubble. DO NOT stir the caramel with a spoon, or the sugar will crystallize. Instead, gently swirl occasionally, brushing spare sugar back into the mix with a pastry brush coated with water.

2. The mixture will start steaming, and then when the water evaporates, it will slowly start to turn colour. Fill a heatproof bowl with cold water and ice.

3. When the caramel turns a deep amber, quickly remove the pan from the heat and plunge the bottom into the bowl of ice to stop the cooking process.

4. Quickly divide the caramel between the ramekins. If it sticks to the bottom of the pan, put it back over gentle heat to warm it up. (Pro tip: to clean pans with caramel hardened on the bottom, boil water in the pans until it dissolves back into sugar, then, pour it away!)

5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the milk in a saucepan, over low-medium heat. In the meantime, whisk together sugar, eggs and the vanilla in a large heatproof bowl.

6. When the milk begins steaming, whisk a small amount of it into the egg mixture, doing so quickly to avoid cooking the egg. Then, whisk in the remainder of the milk.

7. Strain the mixture (in case of bits of egg) and then divide among the ramekins. Place the ramekins in an ovenproof dish, filling it halfway up with warm water. (This is sometimes called a "bain marie.")

8. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a tester in the custard emerges nearly clean. Let cool completely before refrigerating.

9. Before serving, run a thin knife around the edge of the ramekin to loosen, then turn upside down on serving plates. Voila!

I am Jack's Step By Step Photos

1. Combine sugar and water over medium heat. The mixture will start to bubble, steam and eventually change colour. Do not stir, instead, gently swirl the pan to avoid crystallizing the sugar.

2. When the sugar mixture turns amber, plunge the bottom of the pot into a waiting bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

3. Pour the caramel into the six ramekins. While it's cooking, prepare the custard. (Scroll down!)

 4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat the milk on the stove until it starts steaming. In a separate bowl whisk together sugar, vanilla, eggs and egg yolks. Add the hot milk to the egg mixture, streaming it in while whisking vigorously to avoid clumps of cooked egg.

5. Strain the mixture once, then divide it among the six ramekins. Place the ramekins in a deep ovenproof dish, and fill it halfway up with warm water.

6. Bake for 45 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out mostly clean. Then, let cool completely before setting them in the fridge.

7. Come serving time, run a thin knife around the edge of the ramekin to loosen it. Invert on a serving plate, garnish and serve!

Puffed Up Kicks

Wow wow wow wow! The blog has hit some pretty exciting milestones lately! Including over 2000 pageviews, and a solid 30 followers on Facebook. As promised, I'll be posting my Cheeseburger Pizza recipe soon as I can! I'm pumped to share it with all of you. But forget, dinner, let's talk dessert. (Again.)

There are all sorts of rules and guidelines to life. My parents taught me to never show up to an invitation empty handed. A common rule of thumb is that you should never try out a brand new recipe when you're serving it to other people. I have a belief that if I'm going to spend money on ingredients, I want to put that money to good use by trying something I've never done before. I want to push the limits of my knowledge and my skills, and I admit, be the one who shows up to the pot luck with the dish that's a touch more elaborate than the rest. It comes with the territory of being competitive. ANYWAY.

As you might guess, my philosophy sort of thumbs its nose at the first rule in the wrong situation, and completely stomps on the toes of the second. If you try a new recipe and it goes wrong, you're the one showing up with the store bought two bite brownies. Delicious, but don't get me wrong, not spectacular.

Know what's spectacular? Cream puffs. Baked up to puffy, crispy heights and sandwiched around smooth, sweet whipped cream, nuanced with light bite and warm milky flavour of shredded coconut. Although it was only my second crack ever at making choux pastry, I threw caution to the wind and whipped up these babies to bring to lunch with my two friends, Sarah and Hannah. They're light and summery and they make a great first impression. The cream puffs were delicious too.

Giant Coconut Cream Puffs

Makes 8 Puffs 
Recipe adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor

 

Ingredients

1 cup water

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted and THEN measured

4-5 large eggs, beaten

1 egg + 1 tbsp water for eggwash

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, to your own taste)

1. Move a rack to the bottom of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a non-reactive pan (confused? I was too, click the link and read on!) combine water, butter, salt, sugar. Stir occasionally until the butter melts completely. AFTER the butter has melted, increase the heat and bring the mix to a rolling boil.

3. Remove from heat and add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until it comes away from the pan and clumps around the spoon. Then, return the pan to medium heat stirring briskly for 1 minute, to cook the flour and dry out excess moisture in the dough.

4. Turn your dough out onto a piece of aluminium foil lining your counter top and let it cool for 5 minutes. (You don't want the eggs to begin cooking too soon, or your texture will be off!)

5.  Return the dough to the pan, begin adding the beaten eggs, 1/4 of the mixture at a time.  The mixture will be very slippery at first, so stir slowly to keep it all in the pan. When it becomes more incorporated, stir more quickly until it smooths out. Add the remaining eggs, repeating the process for each 1/4 added. The result should be a slightly sticky, smooth, malleable batter that holds peaks. (If the batter is too firm, beat the 5th egg, and add it 1 tbsp at a time until the consistency is reached.)

6. Divide the batter into 8 parts and scoop onto the prepared baking sheet 2-3 inches apart. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle each with a tablespoon of shredded coconut.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the puffs are golden brown and puffy. Reduce your oven to 350 and bake for 15 minutes more to make sure the pastry is crisp inside. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

8. With a serrated knife, cut the puffs in half horizontally to release any steam in them. Place the puffs back on the baking sheet and return to the oven for 3-5 minutes to ensure they dry. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

9. Make the filling by whipping the cream and sugar with a chilled bowl with chilled beaters until stiff peaks form. Fold in the shredded coconut gently with a spatula.

10. Fill a pastry bag (or ziplock) bag with the whipped cream and pipe it onto the bottom half of each puff, generously. (You can also just spoon it on, if you're feeling low maintenance.) Place the top half gently on top of the cream (like a coconut chapeau). Serve!

I Am Jack's Step By Step Photos

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine water, butter, sugar, salt in a non-reactive pan. Let the butter melt, before bringing it to a rolling boil.

 

2. Remove the pan from heat and add all the flour, vigorously stirring until the mixture clumps around the spoon. Return to medium heat, stirring for 1 minute to dry out any excess moisture.

 

3.  Let the mixture cool on a foil sheet on your counter for 5 minutes to avoid cooking the eggs when you begin to add them.

 

4. Stir in the beaten eggs, 1/4 at a time. Stir slow at first to avoid making the batter slop, and then quicker until it smooths out before the next addition. The finished batter should be a little sticky, malleable and able to hold peaks.

5. Divide the batter into 8 and scoop onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with coconut. (Do a nicer job of shaping them than me, that's one of the things I'd tweak next time!)

6. Bake the puffs until golden brown and expanded, 20-25 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350 and bake for  15 minutes more to dry them out. Remove from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool slightly.

7. When the puffs are cool enough to the touch, gently cut them in half horizontally with a serrated knife to release steam. Put the cut puffs back on the baking sheet, and back into the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, place on racks and let them cool completely. 

8. Whip together the sugar and heavy cream, then fold in the shredded coconut. (I totally forgot to take pictures of this step, but I know you're ready and willing to give it a go! Pipe onto the bottom half of the puffs and cap them off with the top half. Serve!

Lemon Meringue Pie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA! 

My mom has distinct tastes: she likes her wine red, her ice cream vanilla, she hates pancakes (WHAT) and she's getting into a habit of asking for birthday pie. I know, it sounds weird. Cake is celebratory. Cake is the life of the party. When you walk by a bakery window, it's cakes that dominate the displays, elaborately iced and dressed like five year old pageant contestants on TLC. But, when it's your birthday, you can cry if you want to (depending on how you feel about birthdays) and you have a divine right to fork whatever you want vigorously into your mouth WHILE crying. My mom wanted pie.

Last year, I made her a beautiful coconut cream pie, a show stoppingly good conjure that I repeated this past weekend for company we were having over. It didn't survive a full day in our fridge before disappearing. So maybe, when it's good, pie is magic. For the actual birthday pie this year, I set my sights on a different model.

This lemon meringue pie is a sashay up from the simple diner version, and a whole league away from the neon goo model you get in a grocery store. It has a sweet shortbread crust. The filling is glossy smooth as any beauty queen's best answers in the interview portion, with the tang of real lemons to make it a memorable affair. It's topped off with a towering Swiss Meringue crown. Move over, Honey Boo Boo.

"Mile High" Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes 1 9-inch pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Shortbread Crust

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Sift in flour and baking powder, blending together until dough is crumbly.

2. Using your fingers, press the shortbread into the pan, trying to keep the thickness as even as possible. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Glossy Lemon Filling

Ingredients

1/3 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup cake flour, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups water
5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1. In a medium saucepan, sift together cornstarch, cake flour, salt and sugar. Slowly whisk in cold water, and put the mixture over medium heat. Whisking constantly, bring mixture to a boil for about 5 minutes until it gets thick.

2. Remove the pan from the heat. Bring the eggs to temperature by quickly whisking a small amount of the hot mixture into them. Then, whisk them back into the pan and cook over low heat for 4 minutes.

3. Take the pan off the heat once again, stir in the lemon zest and juice. Then, stir in the butter until incorporated. Put the mixture in a bowl to cool.

4. When the mixture is cool, spread it into the pie shell, and smooth it all out. Let it set in the fridge for at least one hour.

Swiss Meringue

Ingredients

7 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt.

1. Put egg whites, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with water, bringing the water to a simmer.  Whisk until the whites are warm and the sugar is dissolved.

2. Remove the bowl from the heat and whip with an electric beater (or ultra muscle power) until stiff peaks form.

3. Smooth the meringue onto the pie in a giant mound, making sure to get all of the edges. Set under the broiler on high for two minutes. (Watch it. IT WILL BURN!) Serve at room temperature, and enjoy!

I Am Jack's Step By Step Photos 

1. Blend together butter and sugar. Next, sift together flour and baking powder, and add to the butter mix, blending until crumbly. Press with even thickness into a 9 inch pie plate, crimping the edges with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

 2. Sift together cake flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt into a medium saucepan. Slowly stream and whisk in two cups of cold water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes, until mixture thickens.

3. Remove the pan from heat. Add a small amount of the hot mixture to the egg yolks, whisking them quickly and constantly to bring them to temperature without cooking them. Add the yolks back into the mixture-- whisk them in and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

4.  Remove the pan from heat again. Stir in lemon juice and lemon zest. Then, stir in the butter to incorporate and melt. 

5. Set the mixture aside in a large bowl to cool. 

You can do a lot of things while you're waiting for this to happen. As usual, I went on a run, I think I did some dishes, I maybe practiced my pageant walk, but you can't prove that happened. When it's FINALLY cooled, smooth the filling into the also cooled pie crust. Pop in the fridge for at least an hour. I covered mine with plastic wrap, at the risk of scarring the poor filling for life. (It turned out okay in the end!)

6. When the filling is set and you're getting ready to serve the pie, it's time to make that meringue. Put the sugar, egg whites and salt in a heat proof boil, on a saucepan filled with water. Put it over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and the whites are warm and frothy. This is the Swiss Meringue technique.

7. Remove the bowl from heat. Using an electric beater, whip the whites up, up, up until they hold stiff peaks.

 8. Spread and mound that glorious meringue into a mountain on top of the pie filling. ALL OF IT. Try and make it look pretty if you want to, I'm no Martha Stewart, but I can dream. This is the kind of pie that just looks pretty without too much fussing.

9. Stick this baby under your broiler on high for 2 minutes, watching it constantly until has the colour of lightly toasted marshmallow. I found this to be tough! So if you make a mistake and it gets a little burned on the top, just scrape it off and try again.

I admit this step also had me squatting in front of the open oven, rocking the heatproof mittens trying to hold the pie underneath the broiler in all of the places I thought it needed more colour. I don't know if that's dedication or madness. I DO know that it made a pretty pie.

Slice with care and serve at room temperature. Enjoy!

Whip It Good

I've been watching a LOT of "The Great British Bake Off" lately, Britain's search to find the greatest amateur baker among their tea gargling masses. For those of you without friends in the UK who induct you into the culture (thank yoooooou, Joshua), it's basically like any competitive cooking show you ever saw, but with charming British people, history lessons on food and oh yes, lots of baking. They've made everything from cupcakes to savoury pies, and in the most recent episode I watched, the amateur bakers even had to tackle croissant and danish pastries. (Bless their brave hearts.)

Watching cooking shows for hours on end usually has me sprinting to put on my apron as is, however, Bake Off has me aching for baking more than usual. I watch the contestants tackle each challenge salivating at how ridiculously good everything looks. With every signature bake (the contestants must make a pastry that represents them) I'm wracking my brain for what my own entry might look like. I want to walk around covered head to toe in flour. I have a need to knead. You get what I'm saying. 

HOWEVER, there is a problem with the need to bake things constantly-- and that problem looks exactly like the purple chiffon bridesmaids dress I picked up from the shipping people today for my dear friends wedding next month. See, it fits. It just fits. If I bake anything, there is no way I'm not tasting as I go ("product quality testing," we call it in the business") and no way I'm not at least trying the finished product. How then, to keep up a food blog, satisfy my tastebuds and my baking urges, without going overboard and finding myself sucking in for all of the wedding photos?

Drumroll please!

Basic Meringues-- technically challenging (slightly), egg whites (healthy), crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside texture (tasty).

Basic Meringues

Makes....a lot of meringues, depending on how large you make them.

Ingredients

4 egg whites, room temperature

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

First rule of meringues is NEVER make them in plastic bowls. The ability of the egg whites to whip up is completely ruined if even a single drop of fat-- oil, butter, whatever, gets into them. So, use a glass bowl, wash it well. Some people even wipe their bowl clean with lemon juice or vinegar before starting.

With your bowl prepped, add your egg whites. Whip them on a medium speed until frothy.

2. Once the whites have become slightly bubbly and white, add the lemon juice and whip until soft peaks form on medium-high. Lemon juice is an acid which will help the egg whites form and fluff-- vinegar or cream of tartar will also do the trick. They will start to look like they do below.

3. Begin adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time until it is all combined in and the batter forms solid peaks. (Note: I abused the hell out of my stand mixer to get to this stage, so don't be afraid if it takes a LONG TIME. I was worried that maybe there had been fat in the bowl, or the fact that today was rainy were sabotaging my efforts-- these babies also don't like humidity. "Keep calm and crack on" as they say in Bake Off. It will be okay, I swear.)

4.  When you have stiff peaks, add the vanilla and whip until thoroughly combined.

5. You can put the meringues on the cookie sheets any way you want. Some people use tablespoons. I grabbed a piping bag with a star tip and went to town, making them a little bit bigger than a toonie. (Canadianisms, eh?)

6. Bake the meringues for 1 hour. Then, turn the oven off leave them in there for at LEAST another hour, to dry out the centres. Some people leave their meringues in overnight. I am nowhere near that patient. Enjoy!