Raspberry Meringue Sandwiches with Whipped Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling
Sweet and airy baked meringue rosettes are spiked with tart and fruity raspberry, and sandwiched around the silkiest dark chocolate whipped ganache. You’ll do a double-take when you taste this confection! They taste even better than they look! Naturally gluten-free.
Oh boy. Oh wow. Do I have a fabulous Valentines Day treat for you guys today! These babies are ah-mazing, for serious!
You have heard me go on and on about my love for Ghirardelli many times before. I evangelize about their unsweetened cocoa powder (here, here, and here) every chance I get. And their baking chips are all I’ll ever use (remember these?); they are my absolute fave. I just love how easy they make it to really get high quality chocolate. I can always find Ghirardelli at my regular supermarket, and the product is, IMHO, so far superior to other grocery store brands. I picked these little beauties up at Giant; no trip to a specialty food store required!
The raspberry meringues are pretty tasty all by themselves, but truly, the 60% cacao baking chips are what take them completely over the top. Have you ever tried the 60% chocolate? The flavor is so incredible. So very dark and intense. They really balance out the sweetness of the meringues. I had a feeling they’d be good when the idea first came to me, but I seriously did a double-take when I took that first bite!
I was really impressed by how much the raspberry flavor comes through! I never knew you could add preserves to meringue in this way; I always assumed that would cause it to deflate or somehow mess with the delicate chemistry. But it worked like a charm! I got the idea from Better Homes and Gardens. And now I can’t wait to experiment in other ways! Look out pavlova and macarons: I’ve got my eye on you!
The rosettes are easy enough to pipe with a Wilton 1M tip. It looks like an open star. You’ll want to start in the center and pipe a tight circle, then just continue around, spiraling outward. I happened across this picture tutorial the other day, while browsing Pinterest. It’s perfect and it saved me the trouble and embarrassment of photographing my winter-beaten hands! :o/
Also I should mention that a really big pastry bag is perfect for a job like this. I use the 16″ size, and that way I don’t have to keep interrupting my flow to refill the bag. It’s a timesaver! I have the polyester ones, but the disposable plastic is probably even better. If you aren’t really careful about cleaning the reusable ones with soap and super hot water, the residual grease from buttercreams and stuff like that can really mess with egg whites.
You are going to love the way that intense, deep dark chocolate plays against the sweet, fruity, light and crisp meringue. First, that delicate confection just crumbles and melts on your tongue, and then the smooth rich chocolate takes over and tempers the sugary sweetness. The contrast is so heavenly!
How gorgeous would a box of these look, all wrapped up pretty for your love? Nothing beats chocolate (and pink!) for Valentine’s Day, and it doesn’t get any better than Ghirardelli for baking!
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Raspberry Meringue Sandwiches with Whipped Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 10 ounces (283.5 g) bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup (236.59 ml) heavy cream
For the Meringues:
- 4 (120 g) egg whites, (large)
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
- a few drops pink gel food coloring, (optional)
Instructions
To Make the Filling:
- Place the baking chips in a mixing bowl.
- Heat the cream to simmering, and pour it over the baking chips, all at once. Allow to stand for 3 minutes.
- Use a wire whisk to stir the cream and chocolate together until smooth and well-combined. Cover, and set aside to cool completely.
- When the ganache has cooled and solidified, whip it on high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy and spreadable. The consistency should be similar to cake frosting.
To Make the Meringues:
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F.
- Whip the egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Gradually, and very slowly, add the sugar, while continuing to whip. Mixture should be very stiff and glossy.
- Place the jam and food coloring (if using) in a small bowl, and fold about a cup of the meringue in.
- Transfer the mixture back into the meringue, and fold gently to combine.
- Pipe rosettes onto parchment lined baking sheets, and bake for 2 hours or until the meringues are very dry and peel off the parchment easily.
To Assemble:
- Pipe or spread about a tablespoon of the whipped ganache over the back sides of half the meringues. Sandwich another meringue rosette on top.
- Keep in an airtight container.
How many complete cookies does this recipe yield ?
Depends on how big you pipe them, but I got 12 sandwiches, as noted under “Servings.”
I did a strawberry version of this and they came out great! So delicious! I put them in a heat sealed bag. However, the next day the meringues were soft. Any idea why that happened?
Thanks,
Angela
Hey Angela! So sorry to hear you had trouble. Did you fill the meringues with ganache before you sealed them? If so they probably absorbed moisture from the filling.
Would jelly work instead of jam?
Might be harder to get it to combine with the whites, but go ahead and give it a try!
These look absolutely stunning and I’m sure they taste just as amazing. I’m always looking to expand my baking skills and I’ve never made meringue cookies. This will be a great recipe to learn a new skill. I can’t wait to try them!
That’s terrific Colleen! I always enjoy new challenges too. Hope you have the best of luck with this recipe!
I just found your blog and have been trying to make these for a friends wedding because I think they’d be perfect! It has been raining non-stop recently so the meringues aren’t turning out quite like I would like. I have to leave them in the oven for a LONG time. But, I’ve found that once they’re done and crispy they’re good to go, but when I add the ganache and store in an airtight container, the meringues get soft. Is that just a product of the humidity? Or did this happen to you at all too? I’m hoping to make these a day in advance for the wedding. Otherwise, they taste DELICIOUS!!
Hey Christine! It sure has been a wet September where I live too. I just made a big batch of meringue kisses a couple of weeks ago for my niece’s birthday party, and I had SO much trouble with this too. I thought I could bake them ahead but no such luck. After about an hour out of the oven they started getting sticky and gooey. Meringues just really love to pick up moisture from the air. Unless it’s a really dry day, I’m afraid this is something you’re going to unfortunately have to contend with!
You had me at Dark Chocolate – and they are so pretty, too!
I am a dark chocolate lover too Donna! So irresistible… Thanks so much for reading, and for the sweet comment!
Well, these meringues do not need 2 hrs to cook. 1st time I have ever made these type of biscuits and wasn’t sure of the finished consistency. Turned out burnt and chewy… ?totally disappointed ?
Your oven is most definitely too hot. They should not even be browned, let alone burnt. The oven temp should be set to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, not Celsius.
Lemme just say ….. Omg! I just made these… Amazing to say the least. Good. And on top of that it was my first time ever making meringue cookies at all. Thank you for this!
I’m so glad they worked out for you Brooke! Thank you so much for the great feedback!
These are absolutely beautiful! Almost too pretty to eat!
These are the just SO pretty!
Sooooooo pretty!! Plus raspberry and dark chocolate are perfect together!
Hi, how in advance can these be made?
Hey Viktoriya! I wouldn’t do them too far in advance. They tend to pick up moisture from the air and lose their crispness. If you must, you can bake the meringues a day or two ahead, but definitely hold off on filling them until just before serving. Good luck and enjoy!
hi Allie,
i baked these meringues yesterday and they were absolutely divine!
however, today i noticed that they’ve gone soft 🙁
they still taste good but if you pick one up, it turns to mush. only the filling has remained the same. i put the cookies in an airtight container and left it on the counter. i’m not sure as to why that has happened. is it the filling? I’ve never made meringues with a filling before, just flavoured ones. i’m super upset because they were supposed to be a gift. i popped them into the fridge but that hasn’t done anything. are they still salvageable? what could have gone wrong?
Hey Aisha! I’m so sorry you had difficulty! It’s definitely because of the filling. The moisture from the filling gets into the dry meringue and changes the texture. When I made mine, they got a little chewier on the 2nd-3rd day, I wouldn’t say soft or mushy, just not quite as light and dry. If you prefer the light/dry texture, it’s probably best to wait to fill them until just before serving. Sadly, meringues don’t tend to hold up well for long periods of time. Sorry!
My minimum oven temp is a 100 Celcius. Can i not bake these then?
I wouldn’t let it stop you from trying, Sibgha! Just keep it as low as you can and do your best not to let them brown. They should be dry and light. Good luck!
How long do these keep? I want to bake them on Saturday to take to school on Monday.
They can keep pretty well for a few days, so long as it’s not too humid and they’re in an airtight container. If you want to make them ahead, I’d recommend making & storing the meringues and ganache separately, then filling just before serving. That way the meringues stay light and crisp without absorbing any moisture from the filling. Good luck!
These look wonderful. i would like to make ahead for a baby shower….can you freeze the meringues successfully?
Yes you can! I would just make sure they’re in an airtight container, any humidity at all will cause them to become chewy. You also would want to freeze them unfilled (so, no chocolate ganache) for the same reason. Otherwise the meringues would absorb moisture from the filling. You can fill them just before serving. I hope that helps!
Ahh, theese look so gorgeous! I was wondering if i can replace the jam with frozen raspberries? If I boil them for a minute, smash them and run them through a sieve, making the mass seedless. Would that work?
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hey Eline! Thanks for the great question. I definitely think it would work, so long as you’re sure to boil the raspberries long enough to get a lot of the water content out of them. In other words, reduce them down so they’re nice and thick, like a jam would be. I hope that helps!