Meringue Nests

Having made the basil ice cream a few days ago, I still had the egg whites. Since the ice creams I make are custard-based, these are always leftover. I have tried three times to make these meringue nests and tonight--finally-- I was successful!

Again, I used David Lebowitz's recipe from his Perfect Scoop, in his "vessels" chapter. But my mother, as usual, had the secret to success: a dash of cream of tarter! That stiffened up or glossed up or fluffed my egg whites or whatever it does to make perfect meringue!

I then prepared a similar dish to the other night with the basil ice cream and strawberries, only this time I used raspberries and blackberries. The ice cream rests in the meringue "nest" and I poured the lemon syrup and the berries.


Again, a refreshing, light, delicious dessert! My dinner guests were much impressed, with one asking: how often to do you all eat like this? (after a dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes, chard from the garden, asparagus [there wasn't much chard], and mushroom gravy). Will response: um, well, this one (pointing at me) has a hobby of cooking, so fairly often.

I think they were duly impressed...