"Oh what is the fuss about, I can do that"
And so, the marvel of the Spanish Windtorte was my challenge. A "complex Viennese confection of meringue, whipped cream and summer berries, finished with fondant violets". What could go wrong?
Firstly there were eggs, loads of them! Lots of meringue needs to be made, both
Swiss and French - Is there a difference? I was soon to find out.
Mr Teen started to help with separating the eggs, and the first disaster set the scene for the day - what's a little yellow in the egg white between friends. Yes, a touch of yolk in the precious white which equals an obvious disaster if you want a meringue with stiff peaks! So, let's just say there were plenty of omelettes made later! More egg whites and at last the rotating blades started work and the French meringue started to take shape.
The baking sheets were primed with baking paper and the icing bag waited in readiness as the meringue stiffened. The lid and bottom of the Windtorte were to be shaped. The icing bag was filled and poised ready to start the creation of this amazing piece of confection engineering. No where in the book did it say that once the icing bag felt the pressure it would explode with the sweetened marshmallow gooiness. With hands covered in the mixture, the baking sheet exhibiting a work of modern art (??!!), the kitchen cupboards displaying a white meringue splatter and the air a lovely shade of blue, I resorted to freezer bags with a corner cut out and spoon to make little ripples in the meringue. A bit rustic but it would have to do.
45 minutes in the oven for the top and bottom of the Windtorte. Deep sigh, now to find out how to make three rings to be the sides of this enigma and how to pipe them! At the very back of one of my 'odds and sods' drawers, an old plastic icing gadget was found. Small, but it would need to perform today. And so, three rustic, uneven rings were made. Already, my patience was running thin... just like the rings!
Well, I tried to make them thicker, but you can see from the cracks already what was going to happen. 45 minutes for these three and then time to cool while the second type of meringue was mixed. More eggs! More sugar and the glossy Swiss meringue took shape. A whiter meringue, but paranoia had set in. What was this innocent gooey mixture going to do to me?! I could hear it with it's evil laugh mocking me.
With the three rings, top and bottom out of the oven and cool, it was time to construct. First remove the thin meringue from the baking sheet in one piece... erm ok reality check! - first remove the thin meringue and start collecting the pieces to put together with the remaining French meringue! Brick laying is not my forte!
And then smooth the sides with the rest of the remaining French meringue so that it looks cake like. I tried! 45 minutes in the oven again.
Then, joy of joys, something completely different! Cut up the raspberries and strawberries and add them to double cream and icing sugar. Mix them up and try not to eat the bowlful when you are trying to counteract the stress that the meringue is giving you!!
My goodness this was so good! A ruby gem amongst the chaos that reflected all around my kitchen.
The meringue structure came out of the oven... AGAIN... Yawn! and by now my patience was really beginning to wane and boredom was setting in. The old icing contraption was filled with the Swiss icing and I attempted to make a pretty side to the prepared meringue, but by now I really didn't care.
You know what's next... in the oven for 30 minutes (slightly different!!). And then, in goes the filling (what's left of it anyway!).
The top went on, complete with worm like feature to hide the enormous crack when I scraped it off the baking paper.
And here's mine (??!!)
Stop laughing!... how rude!
To look at this feat of cake engineering you may be lulled into the sense of security that this is just a meringue with a cream filling. Stop right there! You need patience, a lot of it. My 'creation' took all day!
Laughing aside, let's just say that this was an absolute pain to make but incredibly delicious! What have a learned from this experience?
1. Don't laugh at contestants and their mistakes - I will make worse ones!
2. Make sure the icing bag is built on industrial proportions.
3. My life is too short.
4. Remember to not move the rotating blades out of the mix with the power still on.
5. Yolks and whites do not make a meringue.
6. Referring to number 4 - Don't have a sleeping deaf dog in the kitchen, she has no idea what the large white dandruff on her fur is when she wakes up.
7. Enjoy your life, buy the meringue, break it up and make the filling.
If there is anything that The Great British Bake Off shows, it is to test yourself with baking things you wouldn't normally do, or have even heard of. I have bought the book now and already have a list of other dishes to make. I must be barking mad!
So, all day to make and eaten in an hour, it really was delicious! I wonder which recipe I will be making next?!
Have a wonderful meringue free week.
p.s. thank you so much for all your comments last week, you are truly lovely. Hopefully today I will get round to you all. Life is manic at the moment and making meringues all day does not help! Your visits and taking time out of your day to comment are always incredibly appreciated and make me smile. Bless you.
