{not just a dance?}

Day: 9 (and 13)

Throughout my 24+ years of life, I've taken a liking to a lot of twosomes:  PB and J, Bert and Ernie, Abercrombie and Fitch, Johnny and Depp (okay, that last one was a cheat, but come on, he is the only man in eyeliner ever worth swooning over).  When it comes to food, there's one pair that's tickled my taste buds since I was a wee one.  What you ask?  None other than chocolate and peanut butter.  Hence, my choice for recipe two was an easy one.

Recipe: Cooking Light's Peanut Butter-Chocolate Meringue Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1  ounce  unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/3  cup  powdered sugar
• 1/4  cup  unsweetened cocoa
• 2  large egg whites
• 1/8  teaspoon  cream of tartar
• 1/3  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4  cup  reduced-fat peanut butter
• 2 1/2  tablespoons  powdered sugar
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  fat-free milk

 

Lessons Learned:  Most importantly, wax paper does NOT equal parchment paper.  Wondering why there are two days listed for this recipe up top?  Well, because I figured this rule out the hard way.  My first batch of meringues (if you can even call them that) stuck to the wax paper like white on rice.  I ate very few of them, and each that I did manage to force off the paper had just that stuck to the bottom.  Yep, I ate wax in the name of this blog.  How's that for dedication?  

Problem #2 was the size of the meringues.  I spooned the dough on to the baking tray having no knowledge of how big each mound was supposed to be.  In the end, I think I made eight meringues (I was supposed to have twice that number).  Not knowing how crucial the size of the cookies was to the final consistency of each, I popped them into the oven and plopped my self down on the couch to watch Ina Garten whip up something delicious.  I was sittin' pretty for the 75-minute cooking time and afterward, until I tried to pry the suckers off the sheet.  Oops.  The meringues were super flaky on top, but the texture of uncooked brownies on the inside.  Cue the mess.  While the batter tasted pretty good (even with a side of Reynold's) the whole ordeal was much more a trial than a triumph. 

{meringues...just like the pic on the CL website!}

Verdict: After a few days (read: ample time for my embarrassment to wear off), I re-attempted the recipe.  Everything went swimmingly this time around.  In fact, I just ate the last meringue from batch numero two and chuckled to myself a little as I licked the peanut butter filling off my fingers.  Hey, if everything went cleanly and smoothly, this blog would be far less entertaining, for me and for you.  So I suppose this week has added a new twosome to my repertoire: successes and failures.