Over a week ago I baked a flourless chocolate torte for Passover. The torte is a rich dessert that required 8 egg yolks. I put the whites into a container to be used later for something else. For the last ten days, every time I opened the fridge, I saw those whites and said to myself, I have to do something with them. Yesterday, it was time or I was going to have to toss them, which would have been a crime.
My favorite go-to recipe for when I have extra whites is my Chocolate-Walnut Meringue Cookies. I had all of the ingredients in my pantry, including walnuts
and chocolate. (Guittard is the best-quality available at the supermarket.)
It’s an easy recipe, but I didn’t have the time to melt the chocolate or chop the nuts. So I improvised.
My husband’s family is from the South, where achingly sweet desserts abound. When he goes home he has Divinity, which are a version of meringue cookies that I’ve never taken a liking to. Divinity is super-saturated with sugar and corn syrup. But the idea of them – light sweet pillows of baked egg white – does appeal.
So, I whipped up the egg whites with the same amount of sugar that I use for my Chocolate-Walnut Meringue Cookies (1/4 cup sugar per egg white), which is about a quarter of what goes into Divinity!
Then, I gently stirred in the walnut pieces and chocolate. Using a spoon, I placed dollops on parchment paper.
I placed them in the oven at 325°F for about 30 minutes and this is what came out:
They have exactly the same ingredients and proportions as the Chocolate-Walnut Meringue Cookies, and yet the taste and texture are entirely different. They are Modernized Divinity. Delicious.
(Note that baking time for meringues varies according to the weather. They might take twice as long to bake if it is humid out. The cookies should be dry on the outside and shatter when bitten into, but be a tad chewy in the center. For crisp all the way through, lower the oven temp by 25 degrees and bake until dry.)
The Chocolate-Walnut Meringue Cookie recipe can be found in The Farmstead Egg Guide and Cookbook.