# Advanced technique - dessert in a meringue shell



## jellly (Jan 3, 2005)

I am working on a new dessert and there is a technique I have been wanting to use for a while, but have found very little information online about it.

It basically consists of a hollow, dry meringue shell that is filled to order with dessert components. Here is a link to an example- "Lighter than air Mont Blanc"

So far, I have been able to get the shell that thin, but am having trouble with the appearance. I have tried both piping and scooping the meringue, but the exterior is never quite smooth enough. Does anyone have experience with this or know of a source with more information??


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Can't help you out, but wow, way cool dessert. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/surprised.gif Let us know what you find out because I am definitely intrigued.


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## rat (Mar 2, 2006)

Is the filling dipped into the meringue then cooked like a baked Alaska? That's the only way I could figure it. Otherwise some sort of mold would be dipped into the meringue but removing said mold would be problematic.


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## jellly (Jan 3, 2005)

No, the filling is ice cream and I have seen another done with fresh fruit and whipped cream like a vacherin.


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## jcakes (Feb 18, 2007)

It looks very similar in shape/size to the hollow chocolate ball filled with fruit later on in the blog.

In the first photo, there looks like a barely perceptible "seam" just where the beak forms, but it could also be the lighting casting shadows.  Maybe there's a japanese pastry tool or culinary tool that they are using to form the shells with.  What about asking the restaurant directly for some help?


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

This is totally a guess but IMO the ice cream/innards are frozen with liq nitrogen, meringue piped from above to encase it, and it is baked like a Baked Alaska. As the ice cream melts it will begin to dissolve the meringue from the inside out leaving an outer shell. Again.. speculation.


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## jellly (Jan 3, 2005)

Thank you for everyone's input.


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## rat (Mar 2, 2006)

I think Laurenlulu hit the nail on the head there, or the meringue in this case.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

I agree, very plausible, good on you Lauren !


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

Thank you, thank you, although I still may be entirely incorrect.   It is just what I would try first if I were trying to recreate that beauty.


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## wizz (Dec 1, 2014)

Well, I was lucky enough to be taken to dinner in the Aqua Shard restaurant on Saturday and they had just such a meringue - and I am desperate to re create it! Can't imagine how one gets the smooth finish but it looked deffinite to me that the clever Shard chef had used a mould. It was far too symmetrical and smooth to have been anything else. Where do we go from here?


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