The Ultimate Strawberry Dessert

Strawberry shortcake is the classic summer dessert, everyone’s favorite, and for good reason. But when you want to make a really memorable dessert from your fresh picked strawberries, you should try a torte.

It begins with egg whites, slightly sweetened and whipped until stiff to create meringues.(My recipe used 6 egg whites, pinch of salt, 3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder, !/4 c. maple syrup, and 1 Tbsp. vanilla)

When stiff, the meringues are spread onto greased parchment paper (or cut up paper bags!). A perfect circle can be achived by tracing the appropriate sized plate right onto the paper, and a spatula used to guide the merangue carefully to the edges.

You bake the meringues in a very low oven (150 degrees) until crisp and golden brown – may take 6-8 hours.  The trickiest part is getting the meringues off the baking sheet. Next time I will not try using my baking stones, but opt for a baking sheet that is not porous. The mernigues are very fragile! But even if they all fall apart, you can still piece them together to create the torte.

Along with your meringues, you should have a bowl of thinly sliced strawberries (unsweetened), melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a large bowl of slightly sweetened whipped cream.

Begin by laying a meringue on your platter, and spreading/drizzling it with chocolate.Arrange a tidy, single layer of strawberries over the chocolate.

  Next, spread with whipped cream. Then place another meringue and repeat the layers. (Jeremy said I looked very serious as I was creating the torte – I told him it’s ’cause torte making is very serious business! And I love every minute of it)

The combination of textures (warm chocolate, fluffy whipped cream, juicy strawberries, and crisp-yet-melt-in-your-mouth-meringues) and various levels of sweetness make this dessert absolutely delectable.

But the best part about Strawberry Torte is that it doesn’t keep – you absolutely have to eat it all in one sitting. Don’t invite too many people to share it with you, and then serve huge slices to everyone! It is absolutely permissible to lick your plate clean.