MERINGUE, A LA PARISIENNE.
First, make half a pound of office-paste (No. 1257); then, slightly
rub the outside of a tin vegetable-cutter, about one and a quarter
inch in diameter, and cover this to the extent of about three and a
half inches in length, with some of the office-paste, rolled out rather
thin; fasten the join neatly with egg, and place it on a baking-sheet;
roll out the remainder of the paste to the thickness of the eighth part
of an inch, and, out of this cut out two circular pieces or flats, one measur-
ing about six inches and the other four inches in diameter; place these
on a buttered baking-sheet, egg them over, prick them with a fork,
and bake them of a light colour in a slow oven. When they are done
and have become cold, file or scrape their edges even and smooth, and
cut the ends of the pillar even, that it may stand perfectly level;
then fasten the base of the pillar on to the centre of the largest flat
with a little white of egg, and fine sugar mixed together; next, fasten
the smaller flat on the top of the pillar in like manner, taking care
that it is quite straight, and put the whole to dry in the screen.
Whip twelve whites of eggs into a firm substantial froth, and then
mix in a pound of finely-sifted sugar: use part of this to mask the
entire surface of the foundation already described, and set this to dry
as the entrance of the oven; when it has become comparatively hard,
fill a paper cornet or biscuit-forcer with some of the meringue-paste,
and use this to form the design round the pedestal of the meringue, as
represented in the wood-cut: when this is done, shake some sugar
over it, and put it into the oven to be baked of a very light-fawn
colour. With part of the meringue-paste a kind of cup or deep saucer,
measuring about seven inches in diameter, must be formed, by cover-
ing a flat dome (made of tin) with the paste to the thickness of about
an inch; this must be well sugared over and baked firm, without al-
lowing it to acquire much colour. When this is done, take the mer-
ingue carefully off the dome, and place it upside down in a soup plate,
and after the white of egg has been partially removed from the inte-
rior, smoothen it with a spoon, and then sugared over, set it to dry in
the hot-closet, or at the entrance of the oven, if the latter is not too
hot. As soon as the meringue has become dry and hard, fasten it on
the pedestal with a little of the paste, and use a paper cornet filled
with meringue-paste, to finish ornamenting the edge and sides, as re-
presented in the wood-cut; shake some sifted sugar over the unbaked
part, and put the meringue to dry in the hot-closet, taking particular
care that it does not acquire any colour. Just before sending to
table, place the meringue on a napkin or its dish, fill it with whipped
cream flavoured with orange-flower or some liqueur, and strew some
strawberries on the surface; garnish round the base with quarters of
lemons or oranges filled with jelly (No. 1429), and serve.