Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

I am thrilled to be a part of KitchenAid Cook for the Cure campaign to celebrate this year’s Mother’s Day, which falls on May 12th. More than a decade after introducing its first pink product to help raise funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, KitchenAid is celebrating a major milestone: more than $9 million raised to date through its Cook for the Cure® program benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. And in 2013, KitchenAid will donate $450,000 or more to Susan G. Komen® through the Cook for the Cure® program to support the fight against breast cancer.

This year, I have decided to attempt a cookie recipe that is sure to bring the sweetest smile on your mother’s face—chocolate chip meringue cookies. Perhaps it’s the white exterior, and its airy, pure and light texture, meringue cookie just screams love and endearment to me…I couldn’t think of a better recipe for the upcoming Mother’s Day.

I had thought of adding some pink color to the meringue cookies but I finally settled with chocolate chips. How can we do without chocolate on the special Mother’s Day? I just simply loved the creation, and I hope you get to try this chocolate chip meringue cookie recipe and make a big batch for your mother, grandmother, or for yourself. Now that I am a mother, I know that every mother deserves a very special gift this year, and a very special recipe to brighten up the day, because we are worth it!

If you are still shopping for a gift for Mother’s Day, do check out the exciting Pink products on KitchenAid. In addition to its highly popular collection of products offered in soft pink and Raspberry Ice, KitchenAid is now offering a new suite of countertop appliances in a new shade, Cranberry. The suite of appliances includes a 5-qt. Artisan® Series Stand Mixer model ($429.99), a 3.5-cup food chopper ($49.99), 2-speed hand blender ($49.99), 5-speed hand mixer ($49.99) and blade coffee grinder ($49.99). This eye-catching, bright shade of pink joins a wide selection of pink kitchen essentials and gadgets that celebrate the cause, from pink silicone spatulas and mixing bowls to pink blenders and food choppers.

If you are interested to participate in the Cook for the Cure campaign this year, please check out the “1,000 Cooks for the Cure: Parties with a Purpose”  program below:

1,000 Cooks for the Cure:  Parties with a Purpose

As part of the program’s year-round “do-it-yourself” fundraising initiative, cooks will once again be invited to participate in 1,000 Cooks for the Cure, taking place in July in homes and offices across the country. The idea is for participants to host any kind of event, from a Friday office or dessert party to a weekend barbecue or potluck dinner, to raise funds for the cause.

“Instead of flowers or other gifts, hosts encourage their friends and family to bring their checkbooks and make a donation,” notes Robinson. “It’s a simple way to raise funds while enjoying good food and good company.”

Those interested in hosting a party will be encouraged to visit CookfortheCure.com to register and obtain a unique host identification number. Registered hosts will be given access to an information kit that includes party ideas, recipes and donation gathering information. To help  hosts connect with guests and others planning parties, KitchenAid will feature 1,000 Cooks for the Cure as an event on its Facebook Page and provide updates via Twitter in the days leading up to the event.

(Click Page 2 for the Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies Recipe)

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Swiss Meringue Frosting Recipe and KitchenAid Luncheon Love

For the last 16 years that we’ve been together, there are a few items that still have made it through the entire decade and half relationship. Our photo albums documenting our mischievous younger days still exist in the back corner of our bookshelf. Two fruit trees in pots that started off on our apartment patio balcony have survived 2 major moves are and are currently flourishing in their final garden spot. And then of course, our KitchenAid stand mixer has stood the test of time over all these years through a bazillion dozen batches of cookies, cupcakes, bread and other culinary concoctions.

Our KitchenAid stand mixer is like a part of the family. It’s one of the few kitchen tools that have and will always be, a permanent part of our life. When we were able to save our pennies together, the first thing we did was to outfit our kitchen with the fundamental tools. Yes, we did this before even ever buying a bed. We slept on the floor for the first 3 years together. But that’s another post.

Anyways, back to the kitchen talk…

When we finally grew out of our first black 5 qt. KitchenAid stand mixer because we had more people to feed, we graduated our kitchen to the Professional 6 qt. KitchenAid stand mixer. Back then, it took us 6 months of saving up our tips (from work) to buy the Cadillac of stand mixers. It was like having a trophy sitting on our kitchen counter top and to this day, it still has a permanent spot in the kitchen scene.

Now fast forward many years later, we are now thrilled to be partnering with KitchenAid small appliances in our studio. It’s like a dream to be working with not only with small appliances that we love, but also the people behind KitchenAid are wonderful. 

To be partnering with a brand we love and to know that the people who stand behind the product are amazing is certainly dream come true. Rachel Barbarotta is the KitchenAid Community Manager out of Digitas New York, responsible for managing the brands social media channels as well as working closely with bloggers. Miss Rachel Barbarotta is the rock star behind making all this happen. She’s amazing.

So, we partnered with KitchenAid at our studio to host a lunch to celebrate food and friends. We wanted to not only bring new and familiar bloggers together for an afternoon of community and friendship, but also to share the wonderful new KitchenAid 7-qt. Stand Mixer and 13-Cup Food Processor.

Group shot L-R : Todd, Joy, Cristina, camera shy Diane, Rachel, Alex

To make this afternoon even more fun, we invited dear friends Cristina Ferrare, Alex Thomopoulos and Joy Wilson to share a recipe demo. From Cristina’s book, Big Bowl of Love, Cristina shared her potato plates recipe and her daughter Alex shared a fabulous cucumber and zucchini carpaccio.

Joy Wilson’s  new cookbook was just released the day before (congrats Joy!) and she shared her cupcake recipes, along with her wonderful butter cream frosting and swiss meringue frosting. You must make her frostings and cupcakes. The recipes are wonderful.

We shared a little ourselves with a presentation on our journey through photography, video, storytelling and why there is no such thing as an perfect photograph.

And a celebration of food friends, KitchenAid giveaways, music, and great food wouldn’t be complete without cupcakes which everyone had fun decorating in their own personal style. Lots of sprinkles were included!

Thanks for listening to our KitchenAid stand mixer story. Do you have one to share? would love to hear.

Thank you KitchenAid, Rachel, Cristina, Alex, Joy and the rest of our guests for making this one of the most amazing days of our lives. You all left us energized, inspired and more in love with this wonderful community of online bloggers like never before.

Forever grateful for you all,

diane and todd

It was a crazy fun afternoon that all happened so quickly, we couldn’t absorb it all. Thankfully, some attendees shared their experience on their blogs, so please stop by and give them a visit to find out more about what the day was like! 

Fun album of pictures! ( lots of them, might be very very slow loading.)  *Joy’s Swiss meringue recipe is at bottom  *Photo credit: Anson Cu

day before Cristina and Nancy baked a gazillion cupcakes 

set up, calm before the storm 

Miss Alex kick starts the morning, before she’s had her coffee 

checking in guests & gift bags

morning mingle 

juicing fresh oranges & oro blanco from KitchenAid Citrus Juicer attachment 

pretty people

Todd & Diane present their photo talk on storytelling

 more gorgeous ladies

 glowing beauties 

Cristina gives the first demo to food paparazzi 

Cristina slicing up potatoes for her AMAZING potato plates from her cookbook 

Alex is up next…

…making her stunning cucumber & zucchini carpaccio

Cristina and Alex: mother daughter having fun in the kitchen 

Lunch: exceptionally delicious dishes made by Cristina and Alex 

Joy’s turn! 

Joy shares her stories as she makes swiss meringue frosting 

… and sharing her buttercream frosting recipe too 

… ta da! the money shot… swiss meringue frosting for the camera ready crowd 

naked cupcakes in need of frosting and sprinkle love 

sweet moment: Joy & Cristina signing books for one another. Awww…. 

rock stars 

Let the cupcake party begin

& the crowd goes wild for cupcakes 

nicest people. ever. 

Rachel, Todd & Diane teasing during the KitchenAid giveaways 

The End. Thank you KitchenAid for making this luncheon for making all this fun happen. xoxo 

 Print This Recipe

Joy the Baker‘s Swiss Meringue Frosting
enough frosting for 24 cupcakes

 4 large egg whites1 1/2 cups granulated sugar1/2 cup light corn syruplarge pinch of salt2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract In a large pot, bring about 2 inches of water to a simmer.In a large, heat-proof bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar, corn syrup and salt.  The mixture will be grainy, because of the sugar.Place bowl over simmering water and whisk as it heats.  The sugar will dissolve after about 5 minutes.  Keep and eye on the mixture, it shouldn’t get warm enough to cook the eggs.  Yucky.Transfer the egg white and sugar mixture to the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  With a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, on high, until stiff peaks form (about 5 minutes)  The mixture will be fluffy and glossy and look like melted marshmallows.  It’ll be sticky too.  Beat in the vanilla extract last.   Cover, and set aside until ready to frost cupcakes.

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Marbled Meringue

December 14th, 2010 | Baking Recipes | 4 Comments

I have “met” so many great and talented food bloggers on Twitter and Ken of Hungry Rabbit is one of them. Ken is one of the sweetest guys on Twitter; he is always so gentle and kind to me. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Ken is a very talented baker. As you all know, I am a hopeless case when it comes to baking, so I invited Ken to share a holiday baking recipe with us. Check out his decadent marbled meringue recipe below. If you love baking, you ought to check out his blog Hungry Rabbit (warning: major drool alert!).  And Ken, happy holidays and enjoy your vacation in Penang!! I can’t wait to hear all about it when you come back.

Greetings everyone, I’m Ken from Hungry Rabbit. As someone who started blogging not so long ago, I was excited when Bee asked me to write a guest post for Rasa Malaysia. She’s been most generous with her wealth of knowledge and blogging experience. I hope this post will encourage you to bake something to share during the holiday season.

December is a time for celebration, filled with such holidays as Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza. Even if you don’t observe them, it’s still the time of year for friends and family to gather over meals. That’s exactly what I have been doing for the last few weeks–plus non-stop baking of sweet treats that I pack up to bring to these gatherings…

Here’s one simple confection. It’s not exactly a holiday theme dessert but the appearance and texture of the airy meringue are great for celebrating. The streaks of chocolate through the meringue not only give it a festive
appearance but also a contrast in texture. Bits of chocolate provide a soft creaminess, while the meringue shell gives the crispiness.

Marbled Meringues are simple to make and travel well, so you can take these cloud-like morsels to any gathering.

Happy Holidays and may 2011 brings you good health, sweet treats and delicious dreams.

MARBLED MERINGUE

Make about 18 large (2-inch) or 36 small (1-inch) meringue
recipe by hungry rabbit

INGREDIENTS:

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, melted and cool.
2 egg whites, large at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 200?/93? with racks on upper-middle and lower-middle position. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add egg whites to a clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar. In crease sped to medium high and beat to soft peaks, about 2-3 minutes.

Slowly add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time until combined. Add vanilla and beat for about 3 minutes until stiff and shiny.Sift cornstarch over the meringue and gently fold in with a rubber spatula.

Transfer meringue to a bowl. Drizzle parallel lines of melted chocolate over the surface of the meringue. (Do not stir to marble the meringue, it will happen when in the next step)

Using a spoon, scraped across the surface of the mixture, crosswise to the drizzled lines, to get a rounded mound of striped meringue. Use a second spoon to push mound onto prepared baking sheets, 1-1/2 inches apart.

Continue scooping until you need to drizzle more chocolate. You may not use all the chocolate.

Bake meringue for 30 minutes. Switch the baking sheet from top to bottom and rotated from front to bottom. Bake for another 30 minutes. Turn off oven and fight the urge to open oven door. Leave meringues inside to dry, about another hour.

Eat them immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

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