Christmas Meringue Spheres

Spoil Santa and yourself with these unique sphere mold desserts - meringue spheres - filled with chestnut whipped cream. Resembling snowballs, they make a gorgeous Christmas dessert. Want to serve it all year round? There is such an option too!

Indeed, there is something magical in these meringue spheres. Mostly, their uniqueness is that they represent one of the best sphere mold desserts.

The meringue shape and presentation make you wonder about what is inside. Is it a hollow meringue or a meringue ball filled with cream?

I used a chestnut whipped cream, but almost any cream made on the base of whipped cream will work.

At first, this dome meringue resembles a Pavlova dome, a mini-Pavlova dessert.

However, meringue half-spheres are crispy, without a marshmallow center. So, such a modified dessert would be called "à la Mini Pavlova."

You might be thinking that baking this sphere dessert is quite challenging.

Yes, it is at some point, but I have baked them a lot and perfected each step to share with you.

I guarantee that the three-ingredient foolproof meringue recipe below will not leave you a chance to fail during busy Christmas time.

So are you ready for one of the best Christmas desserts?

Eight tips to make the perfect meringue

Tip #1. Keep a bowl and whisks clean and grease-free. A copper bowl is the best for whipping the meringue since the chemical reaction between the copper and eggs' protein helps egg whites hold their volume.

If you do not have such a bowl, simply use a stainless steel or glass bowl.

Tip #2. Gently separate egg whites from egg yolks: do not let any yolk into the egg whites.

To separate egg whites from egg yolks, crack cold eggs (straight from the fridge) into an egg separator. Please, read on how to separate eggs.

Tip #3. Keep egg whites at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before you start making the meringue. Room temperature egg whites whip up quicker and easier.

Tip #4. Use caster sugar or superfine baker's sugar because it dissolves quicker. You can also make your superfine sugar using granulated white sugar and a food processor.

Tip #5. Add sugar gradually, allowing it to dissolve before adding more. To test, rub a bit of meringue and feel no sugar granules in the meringue. 

Tip #6. Beat the meringue at low speed at the beginning and increase the speed to medium-high as you go.

Tip #7. Whisk the meringue till stiff peaks. To test, pull some meringue out on beaters or the whisk attachment on a standing mixer and look at it.

The meringue will curve over, resembling a bird's beak called "bec d'oiseaux" in French. A meringue at this stage will also stand straight up in a peak on your finger.

Moreover, if you turn the bowl upside down, the meringue at the peak stage holds proudly in the bowl!

Tip #8. Use the meringue immediately for the best results; otherwise, it will start breaking down.

Why you should try this recipe

1. This meringue dessert has one of the best presentations ever and represents a meringue dessert made in silicone molds.
2. Meringue balls make a unique Christmas dessert: scatter them on your holiday table as an edible decor or serve them individually as a dessert.
3. The three-ingredient French meringue recipe is easy to make.
4. The use of different types of creme to assemble meringue balls opens endless possibilities.
5. Serving meringue half-spheres instead of spheres makes 12 individually served desserts.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Egg whites: the recipe calls for large egg whites. Using chilled eggs and an egg separator facilitates the separation of egg whites from the yolks.

Sugar: use caster sugar or make your superfine sugar. Just place the required amount of granulated white sugar in a food processor and grind it for about 1 to 2 minutes until the sugar appears like fine sand.

Icing sugar: make it yourself using a coffee grinder or use store-bought powdered sugar.

Chestnut cream: this French classic makes the whipped cream sweet and nutty.

If you have never tried chestnut cream, you will be surprised to discover that it is a delicious topping for crepes and waffles or to make sandwiched cookies.

Whipping cream: use your favorite brand of whipping cream with at least 35% or more milk fat.

Rum: Use dark rum or brandy. If you have kids, please, omit rum as an ingredient.

Lime: use organic, untreated lime and make the zest with a zester grater. Replace it with the zest of combawa (kaffir lime) or lemon zest.

How to make meringue spheres

Preheat oven to 185 degrees F/85 degrees C.

To make the meringue, beat egg whites in a stand mixer or using an electric mixer till they are mounted.

Gradually add caster (or superfine) sugar and whisk to get the glossy meringue (photo 1).

Stir in the icing (powdered) sugar with a rubber spatula. Place the meringue in a pastry bag with the cut end or Ateco plain pastry tip 806 and push it in the cavities of half-sphere molds.

Smooth the meringue on the whole half-sphere with the back of a teaspoon (photo 2), place silicone molds on the oven rack and bake for two hours.

Take the meringues out of the oven and let them cool down. Then carefully remove the meringue half-spheres from the molds (photo 3).

To make chestnut whipped cream, whip whipping cream to get whipped cream.

Stir in the chestnut cream and dark rum using a rubber spatula (photo 4).

To assemble meringue spheres, make a small dot with chestnut whipped cream on a serving platter and fix a meringue hemisphere.

Garnish this and another hemisphere with cream (photo 5) and place one on top of another to form a ball.

Sprinkle the meringue dessert with icing (powdered) sugar and lime zest (photo 6). Assemble the rest of the baked hemispheres in the same way.

Recipe variations

These meringue spheres are filled with chestnut whipped cream wildly used by French chefs.

If you are not a fan of chestnut cream, make whipped cream and flavor it with a few drops of almond extract or one teaspoon of vanilla extract or rose water.

Another option is to make whipped cream scented with orange flower water, like in Banoffee Pie Cups Recipe.

If you are a coffee lover, you will enjoy coffee whipped cream from the recipe for Meringue Cake Merveilleux.

Chocolate lovers will appreciate meringue balls filled with white chocolate whipped cream used in the recipe for Brownie Cake or milk chocolate whipped cream used to pipe Banana Cupcakes.

If you want to serve meringues as half-sphere desserts, garnish meringue domes with whipped cream, top with fresh fruit, and sprinkle with icing (powdered) sugar. It makes a beautiful summertime dessert.

If you want to bring more fun to the dessert, make tinted meringue half-spheres or spheres. Just color the meringue.

It is preferable to use food coloring powder instead of liquid or gel since powder colors do not change the consistency of the meringue.

Add coloring powder with icing sugar to the meringue and mix with a rubber spatula. If the mixture seems streaky, it is okay: it will create beautiful patterns when baked.

Storage

Store the assembled dessert in the fridge for up to 24 hours. It is not recommended to freeze it.

Expert tips

1. Please, read eight tips to make French meringue above in the post.
2. Bake meringue half-spheres, placing silicone molds on the oven racks, but not on a baking sheet.
3. To even the base of the baked meringue half-spheres, use a cheese or zester grater. This way, meringue hemispheres will match perfectly to each other while assembling the dessert.
4. Make meringue half-spheres in advance and fill them with cream on the day of serving.

Frequently asked question

Love desserts? Try these next

Want more delicious and beautiful recipes? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for my latest updates. If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card and comment below!

Print

Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from http://www.femmeactuelle.fr/. It was originally published on November 27, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.