Sweet Mouthful... sort of.

When I first started this blog I asked a few friends what my first dessert should be. I had many wonderful suggestions including: cheesecake, pavlova, and Baccone Dolce. We now know that I didn't choose any of these and instead opted for a cupcake with a cookie on top. But, for this week, I attempted to make the Baccone Dolce. If you are unfamiliar with this dessert, it is hands down the most heavenly experience you will ever have on planet Earth. So, naturally I wanted to make one. The problem is that I have never even tried to make crisp French meringue which is the foundation of Baccone Dolce. But how hard can it be?

Well, it wasn't very hard to make, but proved to be rather difficult to take off the paper. So my plans to make this incredible layered meringue dessert crumbled in a matter of minutes! AHHHH - Utter despair. Immediately I started scoping the internet for what I could have done wrong, and I have boiled it down to three possible reasons:

1. I did not use parchment paper, I used waxed paper. As a graduate student- I try to skimp on certain luxuries, including parchment paper. I should have known that parchment paper is always superior. If parchment paper and wax paper were players of a feudal system- parchment paper would be the king and wax paper would be the peasant. Needless to say, parchment paper is on this week's grocery list.

2. I did not allow the meringue to fully dry before trying to remove from the paper. Rose Levy Beranbaum suggests to actually cook the meringue for 1 hour at 200 F in the evening and allow the meringue to sit in the oven overnight with the pilot light on to allow it to fully dry. Okay "Cake Bible" writer- you have me on this one. Must learn patience.

3. Possible entry of water somehow in some step. Water is the ultimate enemy of meringue. Not sure where this could be entered into the equation, but I am assuming that having a boiling kettle next to the meringues
 when they were sitting wasn't a good thing.

Alas, I was able to pry the goodies off the pan and still plopped whipped cream, melted dark chocolate, and sliced strawberries on top. It made for a delightful pre-dinner snack even though it wasn't the real thing.

For now, the Dolce may have won the battle, but I will eventually win the war! Hopefully you will be seeing the real thing shortly, layered goodness and all. If you have any suggestions for future crisp French meringue success, please leave me a comment!

Thank you for visiting. Until next time - Happy Eating!