Dolce: Persian Orange Blossom and Rosewater Meringues

For many years, my family would hole up in a Kosher hotel on Passover, trying to avoid the many cooking complications that come along with such an ingredient-restrictive holiday. On Passover, you can’t eat anything with risen flour – no bread, no cake, no pasta. Dessert is especially complicated. I remember sitting on the hotel lawn gouging myself on coconut macaroons, chocolate, and marzipan, then immediately throwing it all up. In one fell swoop, I removed any desire to eat the most typical Passover desserts.

After the hotel days, we would go to my grandparents. My grandmother always ordered a plum tart with a ground matzah crust – it sounds disgusting, but was actually divine. Unfortunately, I stumbled upon the price tag, and I knew then that such an elegant tart would never grace my Passover table. Later, when my mom, husband, and I started hosting the Passover meal, we were determined to find a simple (and affordable) dessert. We discovered meringues, and I can confidently say, we’re sticking with them.

These meringues are a Persian twist on our traditional pecan and brown sugar version. They incorporate the flavors you usually find in a Persian ice cream shop – orange blossom, rosewater, pistachio. They are incredibly simple to make (if you can hold a hand mixer for 10 minutes, you’re more than half way there). And they’re a perfectly light dessert to end a heavy meal. –jaime

If you like these flavors, I recommend you also try our Orange Blossom Applesauce or Rose-scented Almond Cookies.

Ingredients

Note: The floral waters and nuts are interchangeable here. I made two versions (1 recipe of each) – orange blossom-pistachio and rosewater-almond – but feel free to try any nuts or combos you desire. This recipe makes around 15 tablespoon-sized meringues.

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp. rosewater or orange blossom water (it’s only around $3/bottle at Middle Eastern markets, more at a Whole Foods or gourmet market)

1/4 cup pistachios, almonds, or other preferred nuts + some more for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Start beating egg whites with a mixer. Once the eggs stiffen, gradually add in sugar.

3. Continue beating until the mixture looks shiny (see photo below). Add preferred floral water and beat two more minutes. Stir in nuts.

4. Using a tablespoon, spoon meringue mixture onto the baking sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart. For smaller meringues, use a teaspoon.

5. Sprinkle any remaining nuts on top for decoration.

6. Bake 35-45 minutes, until the meringues are mostly hardened.

7. If you like meringues crispy rather than chewy, turn the oven off, and let the meringues sit in the oven for an additional hour.

Egg whites should look like this before adding in the flower water.