Meringues With Coffee Filling

Let me introduce my most favorite cookies to you – if these can be called cookies.

I’d rather call them ‘wondrous sensations of supernatural origin’.

Yeah!

That’s what I’d call them.

Oh, and there’s a confession I have to make regarding me and my relation to these gems.

Frankly, I have been addicted to meringues for about 29 years.

Okay, not exactly 29, I was probably fed milk for the first year of my life.

So let’s say – for 28 years.

My love for these beauties was so strong that I learned how to make them early in my life. It just became too life-threatening to rely on a store and whether they had them or not.

Well, I guess this all pretty much explains how gorgeous they are.

SO LET’S MAKE THEM!

These are the ingredients.

I recommend using very fresh eggs.

1. Separate egg yolks from whites.

2. Pour 1 1/2 cup (170 grams) sugar into the bowl with the egg whites.

3. Mix with a whisk until incorporated.

4. Then pour a little water into a medium pot.

Place the pot on a stove, heat it up and let simmer – because we need steam now.

5. Place the bowl with the egg whites over the pot with simmering water and using a hand mixer, whisk the mixture on slow speed for about 15 minutes.

(If we placed the egg whites over direct heat they would turn into scrambled egg whites… and we don’t want that to happen.)

6. Remove from heat.

This is what we are going for – soft peaks.

Now, try to find a piping tip that resembles this one.

7. Fill the piping bag (or whatever you use for piping) with the egg-white mixture.

8. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

9. And start piping. I have achieved this shape by creating 4 small heaps very close to each other – so that they are touching each other.

10. Preheat the oven to (only!) 266 F (130 C).

11. Place the sheet into the oven, bake at 266 F (130 C) for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 212 F (100 C) and bake for 50 minutes.

12. Rotate the sheet halfway through the baking period.

13. Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar.

14. Using a hand mixer again, whisk them over the pot of simmering water for about 15 minutes.

15. Remove from heat.

16. Add the cocoa and coffee and mix just until incorporated.

17. Let cool completely, then add the butter and mix again until well combined and smooth.

18. Remove the cookie shells from the oven and let cool.

19. Fill the piping bag with the coffee filling and – using the same piping tip as for the shells – pipe the mixture onto a shell.

20. Now place another shell onto the filling – both shells have flat sides facing down.

And that’s it.

Easy, right?

And yummy… mmmmmmmmmmm.

Enjoy, dear friends!

And now let’s all sing in unison this world-famous song:

Thank you for the music sugar, the cookies we’re eating
Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without sugar or a cookie what are we?
So I say thank you for the sugar
for giving it to me…’

Thank you!

(This recipe makes about 16 cookies – it vastly depends on how much licking is involved in the whole process.)

Cat’s Eye Sandwich Cookies

cat's-eye-in-bowl

Do you feel like sandwich cookies with jam filling today?

Then let’s prepare some CAT’S EYES.

They are very delicious, easy and fun to make.

~~~

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup (80 grams) confectioner’s sugar

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon zest

jam (any flavor you like; stronger is better)

~~~

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Mix the flour with sugar and salt (set aside some sugar for sprinkling).

4. Add the egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest to the mixture.

cat's-eyes-dough

5. Mix by hand until you form a ball.

cat's-eyes-cutting-dough

6. On a floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch (1 cm) thickness.

Using a round cookie cutter cut out the dough.

cat's-eyes-on-sheet

7. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.

Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the centers of HALF of the cookies on the baking sheet. (You will be sandwiching two cookies together and there will be a small “window/eye” in the top cookie so you can see the jam underneath.

Re-roll any scraps and cut out the cookies.

cat's-eyes-out-of-oven

8. Bake for 9 minutes or until very lightly browned.

cat's-eyes-jam

9. While the cookies are cooling place the jam in a small saucepan and heat gently until it becomes smooth.

Let cool.

cat's-eyes-jam-on-cookie

10. Spoon about 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of jam on the full cookie.

cat's-eyes-powder-sugar

11. Roll the top side of the upper cookie in the confectioner’s sugar.

cat's-eyes-close-up

12. And sandwich the two parts together gently.

Enjoy dear friends!


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