Praline Pecan Meringue Ice Cream Sandwiches Rose's Alpha Bakers

Praline Pecan Meringue Ice Cream Sandwich 'The Baking Bible'

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A quick, easy and gluten free go to ice cream sandwich biscuit (cookie) today. 

I've made brown sugar meringues and meringue ice cream sandwiches before, but it's the combo of brown muscovado sugar and toasted pecans in these cookies that instantly turns a scoop of ice cream into a portable ice cream sundae.

The recipe called for light muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar, my local Woolies had light and dark muscovado on special this week... and I thought I got one of each, but nah I grabbed two dark muscovado's by mistake so dark it is.  

If you haven't used muscovado before, it has a wonderful aroma and unique treacle-y flavour that is unmatched in the world of sugars. 

Start by toasting your pecans, then leave half whole and chop the rest into small pieces.

Muscovado sugar and egg whites are whipped until thick and light, the cooled pecans are folded in. I divided the mixture as this stage and added choc chips to one half... just because, well "chocolate" hello!  

Scoops are put on your lined baking tray and gently shaped to discs with a spatula. 

Baked, cooled and filled with your favourite ice cream flavour, home made or store bought. Rose includes a recipe for 'Rose Blend Ganache Piping Glaze' for topping the ice cream sandwiches, a lovely white/dark ganache mixture that I didn't pipe I more did the "strewn" thing... delicious either way.  

Think of pairing the biscuits with salted caramel ice cream, bourbon banana for a banana foster ice cream sandwich, chocolate (of course), burnt caramel fig ice cream, coffee (not the sweet Vietnamese coffee type, but rather an Italian espresso type to counter cookie sweetness) or just a scoop of classic vanilla. 

The meringue mix can also be baked as cookies, just bake in scooped shape for chubby, light and crisp with squidgy centres.  

Would I bake again? A definite yes!! Loved these cookies, with only three ingredients (or four if you add chocolate) we all need a quick pantry staple cookie. Fabulous they are gluten free.

Would I change anything? Umm, if I added chocolate I would use a darker higher cocoa ratio variety to play against the sweetness... otherwise no.  

How it works... now I've joined the fabulous existing alpha bakers, once a week I will post about what I have baked from Rose Levy Beranbaum's 'The Baking Bible'. This won't include the recipe due to copyright and publisher restrictions however, I will be posting how it went and photos of making/baking the gorgeous baked goods.

Happy Baking :)

The Baking Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum is available from Amazon and where all good books are sold. 

And for something totally different...  Squid ink grisini recipe.  

Caramel Pecan Popcorn

  Candied Caramel Pecan Popcorn. Buttery, sweet & salty.

Butter, sugar and salt, considered by some members of my household "the alternative" food groups ;-)

Caramel Pecan Popcorn

Ingredients
9 cups of popped corn (about half cup of popping corn kernels)
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
1 cup of brown sugar firmly packed
125g of butter chopped (4.4oz)
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Preheat oven to *180c (360F) 

Method
Combine sugar, butter, syrup & salt in a large pan. 
Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
Bring to boil uncovered for 2 minutes.
*Stir in soda.

Pour caramel mix over the popcorn & spread popcorn out in a single layer on greased oven trays.
Cook popcorn in oven for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until popcorn is crisp & brown.
Store cooled popcorn 2-3 days in an airtight container.

*Take care when adding the soda, the mixture does foam up.
  I'm using a gas oven with no fan, if your oven is fan forced reduce heat    
  accordingly.

Variations;
Drizzle tempered dark chocolate over the cooled popcorn on trays.

Omit salt from recipe, instead sprinkle a finishing salt such as Maldon sea salt flakes over of the warm popcorn on trays.

Change nuts, macadamias and peanuts work well.

Top a frosted cupcake with a single piece of candied popcorn close to serving time so the popcorn doesn't soften.