Meringue Cupcakes

By popular demand, here is the recipe!


For this, you will need: 


Meringue: 
6 large egg whites
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt


Raspberry curd: 
1 container of fresh raspberries
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup white sugar
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice
pinch of salt


Whipped topping: 
2 cups of 35% cream
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1- For the meringue, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the salt and the vanilla extract. 


2- Then, add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time (wait about 1 minute between each addition). - Yes, it's long. 


3- Add food coloring. 


This is what it should look like: 

Glossy and thick.

4- Pipe them with a round tip into the tins

The texture of the meringue is thick enough for easy piping. (so good too.)

5- Bake them at 225 degrees for 3 hours (yes, it's long.)

6- For the whipped topping, just whip the cream until desired texture and add sugar and vanilla extract. (I apoligize for the ugly texture of my whipped cream).

7- For the raspberry curd, combine all ingredients

8- Put the bowl over simmering water and whisk until thickened (about 10 minutes). 

9- Strain the mixture and put the curd. Then, refrigerate for 10 minutes. 

10- When cupcakes are ready, cut the top off: 

(Out of the oven, they should look like this. To make the cutting MUCH easier, cut along the cracks)

Isn't it so cute? There's like a pocket for your filling!

11- Then, fill them up!

(add some fresh raspberries too!)


These cupcakes were a challenge, but turned out so nice! Don't you think?


Next time I'll definitely cut down on the sugar. Although it's really good, I personally think it's a little too sweet. 


I also think you could play with colors, toppings and fillings! SO much options. I'll definitely make these (or an alternative version) again. 

Eat away!

M.

Mandarin

According to me this place is the best chinese restaurant in Ottawa. It's conveniently located in the east end - perfect for me. 

What I like, is that everything you order will be good here. I promise. PLUS, they serve dimsum All. Day. Long. 

First off, I had tofu and seafood soup. 

Garlic sautéed greens

Sesame beef

This is my favorite dish here. I know it just looks brown and boring but it is SO good. It's crispy beef with a sesame sauce. Perfect blend of sweet, salty and delicious.

Shrimp stuffed tofu (from dimsum menu)

i LOVE this stuff. 

Shrimp Xiu Mai

Party in my tummy!

I felt so good after this meal. Now that I think about it, it really seems like I'm obsessed with shrimp - which I'm not. 

Anyways, I really recommend this restaurant. Now that I know they serve all-day dimsum, I'll be here a lot more than once a week (I'm kidding). 

Eat away!

M. 

Morel's

I went to this place for breakfast, although they serve lunch and dinner as well. 

This restaurant is located in the Palazzo hotel in Las Vegas and has a gorgeous terrace overlooking Las Vegas Blvd. (omg I miss LV so much). 

It's a very big restaurant with great service too. 

Now here's what I picked for breakfast: 

Lox and Bagels

A classic. What's particular is that they serve mini bagels and have a great presentation! I love the fact that the bagels are so thinly sliced and grilled to perfection. 

Oh what you see on the right is a side of bacon. 

Waffles

I had such a huge craving for waffles. These are perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffly on the inside. Plus, they come with berries, whipped cream and vanilla syrup. Dayum. 

I also had pancakes. But they weren't so epic. 

Eat away!

M. 

http://www.palazzo.com/Las-Vegas-Restaurants/Fine-Dining/Morels-French-Steak/

Le Bouchon

Well. This might be my favorite Las Vegas restaurant that I've tried. I love french food. 

First, they serve you a delicious épi baguette with butter, and pistachios. The real good bread, you know. 

Then, you can choose a drink from their extensive wine reserve list or cocktail. This is the Bouchon Cocktail: 

For starters, there are salads, seafood bar, or other delicious hors-d'oeuvres. 

This is the roquette salade with prosciutto, goat cheese and cherries. Wow, is it ever good. 

Even their plain "laitue" salad with bibb lettuce and house vinaigrette is amazing. 

Shrimp cocktail, peut-être?

Very fresh seafood. 

Or, soupe à l'oignon gratinée? 

A classic. 

Pour le plat de résistance: 

Steak frites

I can't even tell you how delicious this steak is. First, pan seared flatiron steak, covered with caramelized shallots, and maître d'hôtel butter. 

Every bite is to die for. AND, you've rarely tasted fries that taste so good. 

Or, the Bouchon Steak: 

grilled New York strip steak with potato boulangère (like a patate dauphinoise), and black truffle jus. 

Memorable. 

For those who don't like red meat. Truite amandine: 

Pan-roasted Idaho trout with haricots verts, toasted almonds and beurre aux noisettes. 

Délicieux!

If you like seafood: 

Moules et frites. 

A classic according to me. SO good. 

And last but not least: dessert. 

Like I said on Facebook, this might be the best dessert I've had in my entire life. WHY? Cause it mixes sweet with salty, soft with crunchy and it's so different that the boring classics (cheesecake, chocolate cake. Ugh.)

SO, this is a soft meringue, with vanilla crème anglaise, toasted almonds, candied almonds and salted caramel sauce. 

I just died re-thinking about it. 

If you have the chance to go to beautiful Las Vegas, make sure you swing by Le Bouchon @ The Venetian Hotel. 

I won't lie. It's pricey. 

Eat away!

M. 

http://www.bouchonbistro.com/

I Love Burgers

Here's my first Vegas food post. 

I <3 Burgers is a burger specialty restaurant (duh). What's genius is that they have sliders (mini burgers). 

I decided to take their I <3 bacon sliders (their house special). 

So these little babies are served : 

on a brioche bun, topped with premium beef patty, brisket and applewood-smoked bacon, smoked gouda, bacon mayo, onion strings with fried quail eggs!!!

Ready to look at them?

There, drool: 

Have these with a spiked pink lemonade (look on the right of the picture), a panshake (specialty) or one of the many beers they offer.

***They even have Québec's Unibroue beers! 

You will be ready to nap after this. 

Eat away!

M. 

http://www.iloveburgers.com/