Curly Cooks: Merveilleux

Since we're all stuck inside for lockdown, many people are currently baking to pass the time, including me! So, Curly Cooks is a series on the various items that I'm making while on lockdown, most of which will carry personal stories. A year ago this week I went to the French city of Lille for the day, where I partook of their specialty sweet treat: Merveilleux.

Curly Cooks: Merveilleux

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Merveilleux are a French pastry which originated in Northern France and Flanders in the 19th century, consisting of meringue and cream. The recipe was updated in 1985 by Frédéric Vaucamps, who founded the now international bakery Aux Merveilleux de Fred. Traditionally, they are plain meringues with plain whipped cream, but Vaucamps developed multiple flavours and varieties, his masterpiece being a meringue with chocolate whipped cream and covered with chocolate flakes.

The Magnifique (praline cream with caramelised hazelnuts and almond chips)

At his patisserie, branches of which can be found in Paris and London as well as the original location in Lille, you can purchase six different varieties of merveilleux, including white chocolate, coffee, and praline. They are all delicious, and I decided to try a version of the Incroyable, with lotus (speculoos) flavour cream and crushed lotus biscuits (the bakery's version uses white chocolate coating).

First, you need to make the meringues. They can be tricky to it's important to follow the steps exactly. Use 33g of caster sugar and 25g of icing sugar for each egg you use, and the proportions are correct. 

66g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 50g icing sugar

The bowl you use must be completely clean, free of grease and fibres, as if it isn't then the eggs won't whisk properly.

Break in the egg whites, making certain not to get any yolk in - if you do, the mixture, again, won't work and you'll have to start over. Whisk the eggs into stiff peaks and then add the sugars a spoonful at a time until the mixture is thick and shiny. If you've watched the video, you'll note that I put all the ingredients in the bowl and whisked them, and while the result was fine, it took a long time to mix, so maybe follow the instructions here and the meringues will work out better!

Pour the mixture into a piping bag or freezer bag, whichever you have handy, and cut a small hole in the corner. Pipe an even number of small circles onto your prepared tray:

and put them in a 110C oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

Allow the cooked meringues to cool, meanwhile prepare the cream. Whip a pot of double cream into a soft but firm consistency, then mix in the flavouring of your choice - be it cocoa powder, melted chocolate, or lotus spread, as I chose. Make sure the cream is a spreadable consistency and put it aside until the meringues are cooled enough that the cream won't melt. Next, prepare the toppings: be it putting caramelised nuts in a bowl or grating chocolate ready to be sprinkled on the finished product.

My preparation station of the cooked meringues, flavoured cream and crushed biscuits

Once the meringues are done, spread a generous layer of the cream onto the top of one meringue, and place another, of a similar or slightly smaller size, on top. Now you can cover the sandwich with cream, and finally coat it with your topping.

And done! You've just made a merveilleux. Enjoy! While they obviously don't look as good as Fred's, they're still really tasty. Just make sure to store them in the fridge as the cream melts easily, and hardening it in the fridge makes it a lot easier to eat.

Merveilleux

Prep time: 45 minutes             Cook time: 90-120 minutes             Serves: 1-6

Ingredients

2 eggs

66g caster sugar

50g icing sugar

Double cream

Flavouring and topping of choice

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 110c and prepare a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Make sure your bowl is clean, then break in the eggs, separating them and ensuring no yolk gets into the bowl.

3. Whisk the eggs until they form stiff peaks.

4. Add the sugars one spoonful at a time until your mixture is stiff and glossy.

5. Pour your mixture into a piping bag and pipe an even number of rounds onto your prepared tray.

6. Place in the oven for 1.5 to 2 hours (check after 1.5 hours and if they're browning, take them out. Cook time depends on how big the meringues are).

7. Prepare the cream; Whisk the cream with a spoonful of icing sugar until it's a thick consistency (this may take a while).

8. Add the flavouring of your choice and whisk it in.

9. Prepare your topping (grate chocolate, crush biscuits, etc).

10. Spread cream on top of a meringue, then place another meringue on top. Coat the sandwich with cream and sprinkle over the topping. Enjoy.

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