Failed meringue "the Elusive Dacquoise" Suggestions?

[THewat]

I started to make a dacquoise a couple of weekends ago, fought the meringue all the way, and finally gave up & made an apple pie. I'd like to try again this weekend, and I don't have much margin of error - it will be a birthday cake.

I'm supposed to butter & flour baking sheets, outline circles on the flour, pipe the meringue into the circles, cook at 250 for 45 - 60 minutes until firm & set. Loosen while still warm. Let cool.

The meringue is:
5 egg whites
9 tbs sugar
1 cup of ground hazelnuts.

I'm supposed to beat to peaks, beat in half the sugar until stiff. blend nuts & remaining half the sugar and fold in to meringue.

I did fine until the pastry bag part, where I felt like I was loosing air in the bag. I might jut try cutting a corner off a plastic bag this time, so I can see what's going on. Anyway, I ended up daubing the meringue on to the baking sheets, rather than piping it. They looked ok, I cooked them about 45 minutes & took them out. Two came up with effort, one stuck pretty badly. They weren't super crisp, either - I'm unclear if they were supposed to be. At that point i moved on to the apple pie.

So this time around:
More butter on the pans. (Is there anything I could dust with other than flour? I have some GF folks.)
Should I use a silpat? I own one but I don't know what to do with it.
Cook a little longer, maybe.
Try loosening almost immediately?

The recipe seems so simple... Famous last words. Thanks for any thoughts / tips.

[qianning]

Well, if you decide you don't like this one, and you still want to try making one sometime, I've had great results with the recipe from "Saveur Cooks French". This recipe from their web site is essentially the same as in the book. Prepping/roasting your own hazelnuts and almonds is a pain, but it does deliver excellent results. No pastry bag involved, but you do need a good off-set spatula. Also, the dacquoise meringue should have some chew to it, no? It is crisp on the outside, but w/ an ever so slightly chewy interior,sort of thought that was the appeal of the nut meringue.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/La-Cote-Basques-Dacquoise
http://www.saveur.com/article/Techniq...

[gingershelley]

Thewat,
Bake your merangue's (probably longer than recipe calls for), but then TURN OFF the oven and leave them in with the door ajar to dry out further, without truly cooking anymore.
This works like a charm for me, especially if there is any humidity in the air.
A couple hours of dry time can really make a difference in getting them to peel oof parchment properly.

[ForFoodsSake]

I do this with mine as well -- I bake them right before bed, and leave them in the oven overnight.

[THewat]

Thanks qianning. Both links will be helpful!

[THewat]

Qianning - thanks so much for the saveur links - both will be useful.

[qianning]

good luck with it. you never know how things will play out for others, but i have had success with their technique.

(ps; after the fist time i made this i switched to making a long rectangular rather than a round cake. this is a rich dessert, and a wedge shape piece cut from the round cake was just too big, slabs from the rectangle worked much better as serving portions for us & guests)

[THewat]

Thanks. I completely agree on the shape.

[THewat]

Thanks all. i'm appreciative of all of the suggestions. I'll let you know how it goes.

[magiesmom]

you really have to beat the whites until very stiff, starting with them at room temp. you have to fold the nuts in VERY gently. Also check oven temp, as that is already a high temp for this purpose and it may be running hot.

[THewat]

Magiesmom - I sat down & read the cooks illustrated tips for making meringue, which actually made me wonder if I was over beating. The mystery remains unsolved. Thanks for the check oven temp reminder.

[chowser]

How large are the circles you're piping? If they're large cake size, 45 minutes isn't long enough at 250. I do them on parchment, in part for the sticking but also so I can trace the shape first (flip it over so drawing in on the bottom). When you say you're "loosing air in the bag" do you mean that air is getting out of the bag? Once you fill the bag, you need to twist it just above the meringue so no air gets in. I like to fill the bag over a large glass cup, top of the bag folded over the edge of the cup. It keeps it neat and clean. Good luck with it!

[THewat]

Hi Chowser. The recipe specified 9" circles. Being contrarian, I decided I'd do rectangles - about 4 1/2 by 12, I think. I thought I'd have a little extra meringue. The meringue felt pretty hardy going into the pastry bag (I started with 1/3 of it), but I twisted the top & felt like the meringue was immediately losing volume. I piped a little, and then resorted to two spoons... I (clearly) don't really know what I'm doing with a pastry bag - I think I've only used it for pate a choux.

[chowser]

I wonder if you didn't beat them enough if they're deflating in the bag. I don't think it's the pastry bag. I still think the bake time is too short, too.

[THewat]

The meringues are in the oven, on parchment. My experience the second time through was much like my experience the first time - I put about a third of the meringue in the bag, and I didn't have enough to pipe a full layer. Part of this may be my inexperience with pastry bags; Chowser, maybe you're right & I'm not beating the whites long enough to begin with. I appreciated the comments about hazelnut oil up thread. I did loose a little volume when I added the nuts & folded - it didn't look too bad to me, but every bit counts. So I made some 11th hour decisions on the shape / size of the meringue, and I'm hoping that what's in the oven will cook to crisp & come off the parchment. If so, I think I'll have two, smaller, full layers, a middle layer that will be in two parts, and some extra for crumbling. Having tasted my last failure, I think the cake will probably be fine, but I understand I'm not getting the intended meringue consistency, since I'm clearly not getting the volume. And it will take some creativity to make it look handsome... Sigh.

[rjbh20]

Good luck. The one time (about 30 years ago) I tried to make this, I had the same experience. The oil from the ground hazelnuts quickly deflated the meringue and they never got as crisp as they should have. I'm interested to see how others have fared.

[babette feasts]

Tossing the nuts with part of the sugar helps this, and if the nuts are really oily a little cornstarch will help absorb the oil as well.

And yes the dacquoise should be crisp and dry throughout. I would not worry about keeping this one perfectly white, as a little toastiness/caramelization goes nicely with nuts.

[arashall]

I'd put them on parchment paper for easy removal. Also, it sounds like they are not baking long enough. Depending on humidity, meringues can take a really long time to dry out (almost impossible here in Houston). They should not be sticky when done. You might lower the temp a bit and increase the time, to offset risk of browning too much.