If you've ever been to Yotam Ottolenghi's eponymous restaurants in London then these Raspberry Meringues will be no stranger to you. You can't help but notice how the pink, billowy clouds of goodness stand out among all the other baked goods on display. I distinctly remember being mesmerized by them the first time I visited the Westbourne Grove location many years ago. Back then I never even bothered trying the meringues; call it a temporary lapse in judgement. Now, years later, I'd finally gotten around to making a copycat version for myself and I was so pleased with the results.
It
all came about because I was in search of a dessert that was elegant,
light and refreshing for a dinner I recently hosted. I had a ton of egg
whites sitting in my fridge just waiting to be used and pavlovas
immediately popped in to my head. The meringue dessert topped with
fresh whipped cream and berries sounded like just the ticket.
I turned to my friends at Cook's Illustrated
and found their recipe for pavlovas. As I was whipping up the Swiss
meringue an image of Ottolenghi's fruity meringues popped in to my
head. Fortuitously I also had a bag of Trader Joe's freeze dried raspberries in my cupboard. Bingo! Combine the two and you get a very
legitimate replica to the original.
