(Almost) Guilt-Free Chocolate Dessert

I finally got around to making that meringue I've been talking about.  So many of Jamie's recipes call for store-bought meringues, but they don't seem to be available around here.  I asked at one bakery recently, and was told that they hadn't sold them for 6 years!  So, on this cold and rainy weekend, I decided baking was in order. 

271.  Tray-Baked Meringue with Pears, Cream, Toasted Hazelnuts and Chocolate Sauce (Jamie At Home, page 39)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

The meringue itself calls for 4 large free-range egg whites.  I had a container of free-range egg whites in my fridge that was close to expiration, so I decided to use it up.  I whipped the egg whites until stiff peaks formed, then added a pinch of sea salt and 1 1/4 cups of sugar.  According to Jamie, it's done when you can rub a bit between your fingers and it is not grainy....about 7 or 8 minutes after adding the sugar.  Thank you to faithful reader Brigitte who suggested to me that I should chill the bowl and beaters before whipping egg whites......it really helped.  :)

I lined a baking sheet with waxed paper, and spread the meringue around, using the back of a spoon to create some peaks.  I let this bake in a 300 F oven for an hour.  That was about as far as I got on the weekend.  I put the cooled meringue into the fridge for safe keeping.  I pulled it out this evening and decided to make myself some dessert.  So I toasted up some hazelnuts, opened a can of pears in light syrup, and went searching in my cupboard for a suitable bar of 70% dark chocolate to melt.

I tend to buy a lot of interesting items that I find on sale, knowing that I will have a stash on hand for the next month's foodie penpal box I have to assemble.  So I happened to have a good selection of chocolate, and I thought the pear flavoured bar would be a great match.  I put half the syrup from the pears into a small pot, and simmered it along with a bit of crystallized ginger.  I removed the ginger before taking it off the heat, and added the pieces of chocolate to melt.  I was really happy to see a recipe that didn't call for the addition of butter to the chocolate sauce!  ;)

I assembled my dessert, layering meringue, pears, chopped nuts, and finally the chocolate sauce.  I skipped the whipped cream, because after eating my creamy rice pudding all last week, my stomach just can't take more.  I find that the flavours really go together well, and without the cream, it is a very nice, light dessert that I don't think will cause me any grief.  It's always great to be able to get my chocolate fix in!   I also am happy to find (by surfing the web) that I can apparently freeze the remainder of my meringue for later use.  Who needs bakeries when I've got an oven?