Cavallo Point Cooking School, Part III - Dessert

To finish our lovely evening, Chef Knickerbocker guided us in making meringue served with berries and home-made whipped cream. It was fresh, light and tasty. Perfect for a summer evening dinner party.

DESSERT

Summer Meringue with Fresh Berries and a Rose Geranium Flavored Cream

Fresh Mint Infusion

We each took turns doing things. I was in charge of making one of the batches of meringue. Luckily I have some experience with meringue. Last Thanksgiving I made a coconut cream pie with meringue. Which I had to make twice. (Something funky happened with the first batch.) I had no problems this time around.

After the meringue was done we spread it on a large baking sheet, lined with parchment. Then it went into the oven for a few hours. A good tip on this is to make the meringue the night before you want to serve it. Heat your oven, place the meringue in the oven. Turn off the oven. Go to bed. When you wake up you'll have perfect meringue.

We also hand-whipped cream for the lightest, fluffiest whipped cream topping. We added just a touch of rose geranium to the whipped cream. I've never tasted rose geranium before - it's really nice. It reminds me of a spa. They gave each of us a clipping to take home and plant in our garden. Mine is sitting in water on the counter looking oh-so-lovely.

The meringue and cream was served with all these yummy, yummy berries, some mint and rose geranium leaves that were sliced oh-so-small.

Then they served it with a hot fresh mint infusion. I've never had this before and it was quite good. It was basically tea - but made with a mint leaf instead. Nice. We have some chocolate mint in the garden. I bet that will make an amazing little drink!

Kris (me) and Peggy

So there you have it! It was a great evening. Don and I would definitely do this again. Hopefully it won't be another two years before we get back to Cavallo Point!

You can buy Peggy's book here: Simple Soirees: Seasonal Menus for Sensational Dinner Parties