Happy birthday little r - Mrs A. B. Marshall's Cornets & Meringues

My how fast the year flies.  It only seemed like yesterday that I was busy in the kitchen mastering a violet croquembouche for little r's birthday when in a blink of an eye another birthday has arrived!

This year I've made something different.  Inspired by a woman that was quite the celebrity chef and entrepreneur back in the Victorian times - that coincidently shares the same surname as me - I decided to make some intricate little sweet fancies that would not only be just perfect for a little girls birthday party but would also withstand the scrutiny of aristocrats at a banquet table.  My sweet treats are perhaps not as perfect as Mrs A. B. Marshall's but nonetheless perfect for little r.

Cornets 

Mix together 113g ground almonds with 56g of caster sugar, and 56g of fine flour, a pinch of salt, one whole egg, 1/4 tsp of vanilla essence, and 1/2 tablespoon of orange flower water to form a paste.  

Note: I decided not to follow Mrs A. B. Marshall's method to make the cornets instead relying on the convenience of modern technology - cooking cornets in an oven is soooo one hundred & twenty six years ago! 

Heat a mini pizzelle iron.  To make the cornets, place a teaspoon of the mixture into the pizzelle.  Allow to cook for a few seconds then remove and roll into a cone.  Allow to cool then garnish the edges with pink and white royal icing (see recipe below).

Royal Icing
Mix 113g of icing sugar with 1 teaspoon of powdered egg white, two or three drops of strained lemon juice; and enough water to make icing that's stiff enough to pipe.  Divide into half.  Colour one bowl with a couple of drops of Queen's cochineal and mix thoroughly; and leave the remaining icing plain. Using a piping bag pipe alternate dots around the top of each cornet and allow to set. Note: I used powdered egg white because I didn't like the idea of making my gorgeous girls sick with the use of raw egg white!

Just before serving fill the cornets with some sweetened and flavoured whipped cream as detailed in Mrs A. B. Marshall's recipe above or alternatively follow her tips for other fillings for example ice cream, custard, sorbet, granita and/or fruit.

My Pizzelle iron

This cornet recipe is circa. 1888

Getting ready to garnish the cornets with Royal Icing

You can also roll the icing in coloured sugar for a different effect

Passionfruit sorbet

Lychee Sorbet was the favourite of the day - yum!

And, then we had meringues...

I followed Mrs A. B. Marshall's recipe but added a couple of drops of Queen's cochineal to the meringue mixture then painted the inside of the piping bag with Wilton orange gel paste and used a large star nozzle to achieve the pretty orange ruffle effect. We decided not to make them with cream as they're perfect just the way they are. I took a vote whether to flavour the meringue mixture or not but the girls decided they wanted them plain. If I were to make them for adults, I'd flavour them with some essences such as rose, violet, vanilla, orange, lavender and/or coffee and chocolate. 

I looove you little r - xoxooxoxox

Jamie Oliver's Strawberry Trifle topped with Italian Meringue

Each time we go to Jamie's Italian in Canberra we order the JI Trifle for dessert... fresh strawberries with strawberry jelly, custard and glazed Italian meringue.  Last time we went however, we were devastated because it wasn't available - one of the machines in the kitchen had broken down.  Seeing the disappointment in my daughter's eyes - it was her 18th birthday - a few days later I decided to make her my version.  

LM Trifle... fresh strawberries with raspberry jelly, vanilla creme patisserie, madeleines, dollops of double cream and luscious clouds of glazed Italian meringue lovingly placed in one of my favourite 1930's green depression glass dessert bowls and presented to my gorgeous girl for her 18th birthday and 1st year at University.  

Here's what you need:
250g strawberries
300ml double cream
1 quantity of raspberry jelly (see recipe below)
1 quantity of creme patisserie (see recipe below)
Enough madeleines to cover your bowl or mini madeleines for individual glasses (recipe below)
1 quantity of Italian meringue (see recipe below)
1 blow torch


Raspberry Jelly
3 gelatine leaves (gold strength) (soaked in cold water for 5 minutes)
115g caster sugar
250ml water
225g frozen raspberries

Heat sugar, water and 80g of the raspberries in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved.  Squeeze out the water from the gelatine leaves and add to the saucepan.  Blend with a stick mixer.  Ensure gelatine is fully dissolved before adding the remaining frozen raspberries.  Pour into a large fancy dessert bowl or into individual fancy glasses. Cover the surface with cling wrap and refrigerate.


Vanilla Creme Patisserie
450ml milk
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
50g egg yolks
50g caster sugar
50g cornflour
50ml milk (extra)
25g softened butter
1 drop of egg yellow food colouring (if desired)

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, food colouring (if desired) and vanilla seeds to the boil.
In a bowl, mix the sugar, cornflour and eggs and slowly pour in the extra milk whilst mixing. Sieve to remove any lumps.  You have just made the egg mix.
Pour some of the boiling milk into the egg mix then pour the hot egg mixture into the boiling milk. Turn on the stove and reheat until it reaches 80 degrees celsius.  Take off the heat and beat in the soft butter. Pour the custard into a stainless steel container, place cling wrap over the surface and refrigerate until firm. If it becomes too solid, put it into a bowl and use a hand mixer to make it soft and luscious again.

Madeleines
80g sugar
2 eggs
120g plain flour
25g milk
60g butter (melted)
3g baking powder

Preheat a conventional oven to 190 degrees celsius and grease the madeleine moulds. Alternatively you can use patty pan tins.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs.  Sift in the flour and stir to incorporate.  Add the milk and the melted butter.  Lastly, add the baking powder and stir gently to combine.

Pour into the madeleine moulds and cook for approx. 7 minutes or until golden and turn out onto a cake rack to cool.  Store in an airtight container.


Italian Meringue
150g sugar
37g water
60g egg whites

Place the egg whites into a bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment.  Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan.  When the syrup reaches 118 degrees celsius remove from heat and pour into the egg whites.  Whisk on high speed until the meringue is thick and glossy.  Remove from bowl and place into a piping bag with a large star nozzle.


Assembly
Remove raspberry jelly from fridge.  Wash, dry and slice 250g strawberries so that they look like love hearts.  Place strawberries on top of the jelly and against the side of the bowl or glass in a single layer to create a decorative border.
Dollop a thin layer of creme patisserie over the jelly and against the strawberries.  Place the madeleines on top.  Cover with the remaining creme patisserie.
Next dollop a thin layer of double cream.
Pipe the Italian meringue on top and using the blow torch glaze to your liking.

No idea what Jaime put in his trifle but my girls absolutely loved this.  Just a word of warning though, keep your portion sizes small as it's very rich - enjoy!

p.s my daughters joined in on the fun and decided to assemble their own individual glasses.  Here's how they turned out.

Aguille Du Midi

Chamonix