A good friend who worked through many different kitchens through out Europe passed this recipe to me. We slightly modified these cream meringues by adding a rich chocolate ganache for the sauce.

Place the sugar and the water into a clean heavy bottom pot, and bring to the boil, stirring the sugar until it dissolves. Wipe the sides of the pot down with a wet pastry brush so the sugar does not crystallize. Boil the sugar syrup until it reaches 285F. Whist the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form. When the sugar reaches 285F, slowely pour into the egg whites, whisking continuously. Keep whisking until the egg whites are cold. Place the meringue mix into a pastry bag with a star nozzle and pipe out the meringue onto a well-greased baking tray. I suggest piping the meringues into round disks but you can make any shape you desire. Bake in the oven on 230F of 3 hrs until dry and crisp.

Cream the egg yokes, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour and mix to a smooth paste. Place the milk in a small pot and bring to the boil. Add a small amount of the milk to the paste and mix till smooth. Add the rest of the milk to make a smooth paste. Place the mix back into the pot and return to the boil mixing with a wooden spoon until the paste thickens. Add the caramel topping. Place the pastry cream into a plastic storage container and cover. Store in the refrigerator.

Place the cream in a small pot and bring to the boil on the stove. Take off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until all the chocolate dissolves and becomes a smooth ganache.

9 ounces sugar

4 ounces water

4 large egg whites

6 egg yokes

5 ounces sugar

2 ounces flour

¼ teaspoon vanilla essence

½ ounce soft butter

17 ounces milk

2 ounces caramel topping

10 ounces dark couverture chocolate

25 ounces thick cream

Time to make 2 hrs Serves 6