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Meringue Kisses
Whisk the whites of two eggs to as stiff a froth as possible, then beat in very gradually, one teaspoonful at a time, one-half pound of powdered white sugar, add six drops of lemon essence, and beat all together very thoroughly. Take a square tin pan, place a sheet of wet paper at the bottom, and drop onto it, at equal distances, small spoonfuls of red currant jelly. With a larger spoon take some of the beaten egg and sugar and pile it over each lump of jelly, so as to cover entirely, dropping it on as smoothly as possible, so as to make the meringues smooth and round. Bake them in a cool oven till each two that have been placed together adhere to one another.
A very high-sugar meringue built around a spoonful of jelly, baked barely at all. Two details in the original do most of the work: the sugar goes in a teaspoon at a time, and the oven stays cool enough that the shells dry rather than brown.
- "Cool oven"In modern terms something in the region of 200-225F, with the door propped slightly if your oven runs hot. At that heat the meringues should dry rather than colour, likely taking upwards of an hour; much hotter and the shells will brown and the jelly loosen. The original gives no temperature, only the doneness cue.
- Sugar quantity and typeHalf a pound is about 1 1/8 cups granulated, or roughly 225 g. "Powdered white sugar" in this period generally means a finely ground sugar rather than today's confectioners' sugar, and caster or superfine is the closest modern match. Modern confectioners' sugar contains cornstarch and gives a chalkier shell, though it will work.
- The ratio is deliberately highAbout 110 g of sugar per egg white is double the usual meringue proportion. That is what makes the mixture stiff enough to be piled over a lump of jelly without slumping. Do not scale the sugar down.
- Adding the sugarA teaspoon at a time sounds fussy but is the hinge of the recipe. Dumping the sugar in collapses the foam and weeps syrup in the oven; add it slowly and beat until the mixture is glossy and holds a firm peak.
- Lemon essenceSix drops of lemon extract is a very small amount, on the order of 1/16 teaspoon rather than a measured spoonful. Add it sparingly and judge by smell.
- Wet paperUse parchment on a flat baking sheet. The original's damp paper served to keep the meringues from sticking to and scorching on the tin; parchment does the job, and the sheet does not need to be square.
- The jellyChill the currant jelly first and use a stiff, well-set jelly. A loose jelly runs as it warms and breaks through the shell. Keep the mounds small, about a rounded teaspoon, and seal the meringue right down to the paper.
- Baking in pairsThe closing instruction ("till each two that have been placed together adhere to one another") implies the meringues were set in touching pairs so they fused into one "kiss," though no earlier step in the recipe describes doing so. If you would rather have single shells, bake them well apart and dry them until the outside is firm and lifts cleanly from the paper.
- YieldTwo whites and half a pound of sugar make about 20 to 24 small meringues, or a dozen joined pairs. Store airtight; humidity turns them tacky within hours.
Meringue "kisses" were a fixture of American and English confectionery books through the second half of the nineteenth century, the name often linked to the French baiser, used for a pair of small meringues joined face to face. They kept for days in a tin, and they are a natural use for leftover egg whites. The currant jelly center is characteristic of the period, when red currant jelly was a standard pantry item used as much for glazing meats and thinning sauces as for spreading on bread. Tschirky, the celebrated maître d'hôtel rather than the chef, put his name to an 1896 volume that ranges from plain confections like this to grander dishes such as terrapin and canvasback duck.