Imagine a fantastical edifice of torrone and meringue made of raw, cooked and frozen egg whites, constructed using eggs from different birds. Neither the cooking, baking nor freezing determines the final character of this delicious tower, but the incorporation of air into the egg white.
In collaboration with designer Tom Dixon and food architect Francesca Sarti from Arabeschi di Latte, Caesarstone presents The Egg Tower:
INGREDIENTS
Torrone: 2 duck egg whites
500g icing sugar
2 tsps liquid glucose
4 tbsp chestnut
honey
200g hazelnuts
Meringue: 6 egg whites
200g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
1 tbsp cornflour
Frozen egg white
1 ostrich egg white
220g white sugar
1 vanilla pod
Fresh Air Flip: 1 egg yolk
40g muscovado sugar
60ml Marsala wine
60ml sour cream
For the torrone: Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Whisk the duck egg whites ( or use 3 standard egg whites ) until soft peaks form. Put the sugar, glucose, honey and 4 tablespoons of water into a pan. Stir over a low heat until a drop of the sugar mix turns crunchy when dripped into a glass of water. Take off the heat and slowly pour the sugar mix on to the egg whites, whisking all the time until the mixture is glossy. Toast the nuts then add. Spread the mixture at around 3cm thickness over the parchment paper on the baking tray. Leave to cool and firm up overnight, then cut into squares.
For the meringue: Preheat the oven to 130°C. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod. Put the egg whites into an absolutely clean and dry bowl. Add the sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla seeds. Fold in the cornflour. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and place the mixture on it in about 6 heaped spoonfuls, or pipe the mix into 6 mounds using a piping bag with a plain nozzle. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes until crisp but still pale on the outside and slightly gooey on the inside.
For the frozen egg white: Slit open the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Whisk the ostrich egg white ( or use 15 standard egg whites ) until stiff. Carefully fold in the sugar and the vanilla seeds. Put the mass into a rectangular form and freeze for at least 3 hours. Take out of the freezer, cut into squares. Get creative and assemble your tower: each part is stackable and surprisingly strong so go big, go bold!
Serve with Fresh Air Flip: Cream together the egg yolk, muscovado sugar, Marsala wine ( or use maple syrup instead ) and sour cream. Pour into 4 highball glasses.
Liked this? Then you will definitely enjoy seeing Francesca in action at our 2017 Colour Launch. If you tried this recipe we’d love to see how it turned out! Tweet us @CaesarstoneSA to keep us informed. Want another experiential recipe to try? The Dark Trophy is all the rage…