Meringue Cookies from Manoir de Raynaudes
I love cookbooks, and not just for the recipes. I love the stories behind these books and how they came to be in my home: a memento from my best friend’s bachelorette weekend in Sonoma, CA, a Christmas present from my husband, a signed keepsake by my favorite cookbook authors from Charleston, SC.
This past week I made meringue and was reminded of the story behind "A Table in the Tarn".
Growing up, my mom had this cookbook. The author, Orlando Murrin, and his partner bought a manor in rural southwest France and turned it into a bed and breakfast. The cookbook tells the story of how they came to own Le Manoir de Raynaudes and features over 80 of the guest house’s signature dishes. One of my favorite desserts to this day is the strawberry tartlets from this book. The other is the manor’s “forgotten cookies” - meringue filled with chocolate and walnuts.
Before moving to Louisville from California, Stewart and I spent two years living in Nashville. In the days before we had kids and Music City was relatively affordable, we had an amazing one bedroom loft near Vanderbilt University - off of 31st and West End Avenue.
On the weekends we enjoyed walking to Hillsboro Village for brunch at Provence or Fido and then browsing the storefronts - one of which was a used bookstore that unfortunately is no longer there. One particular weekend I was browsing through their cookbooks when I spotted “A Table in the Tarn”! I plucked the book from the shelf and began flipping through the pages as thoughts of those strawberry tartlets filled my head.
As if I didn’t intend to buy the book already, I noticed that this copy had handwritten notes in French from the previous owner. She had placed a check mark on the recipes she tried and wrote “bonne” and “très bonne” next to the dishes she really liked. I had to have it! As a self-proclaimed francophile, stumbling upon this copy of “A Table in the Tarn” was a moment of serendipity for me.
With an abundance of eggs in the refrigerator last week, I decided to make those memorable meringue cookies. We’ve had our fill of baked breads and cakes lately, so I wanted to have something on the lighter side of dessert.
This was my first attempt at making meringue and admittedly had no clue what to do. How do you whisk egg whites properly to get “stiff peaks”? Before getting started, I watched this tutorial on YouTube.
Note: Make sure your egg whites are at room temperature to start.
After folding in chunks of chocolate and walnuts into the meringue, you spoon heaping teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet and place them in the oven overnight. Don't worry; you turn the oven off immediately after putting the baking sheets in there.
When you wake up the next morning, voila! You have beautiful meringue cookies ready to serve. My family loves them (the kids in particular). What’s not to love? Serve them with coffee in the morning or as an after-dinner treat. Or (as I do) have a few anytime you need a little fix for your sweet tooth. Orlando Murrin says you can store the cookies in an air tight tin for up to a week, but they won’t last more than two days in your house.
Eating these meringues are like coming home - from eating them in my mom’s kitchen as a kid to making them in my own house.
