I am working on a menu for a charity garden tour, so I have been experimenting with recipes for both sweet and savory items that utilize flower and herb components.  I fell in love with the combination of the Middle Eastern flavors of rosewater and pistachios when I made a Persian Love Cake.  Thinking about the flavors of that wonderful cake and still having roses in my thoughts, I decided to try and create a rosewater meringue.

I was very happy with the result and wanted to share the recipe with you.  This light and airy cookie has a wonderful essence of roses…perfect for my garden tour menu!

Recipe for Rosewater Meringues

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 whites from large eggs
• ¼ teaspoon rosewater (you can purchase bottled rosewater…if you make your own, be sure to use organic rose petals!)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped unsalted natural pistachios

Preheat oven to 175 degrees F.  Line 1 large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Sift the confectioners’ sugar twice to remove all lumps and divide into two equal portions.

Put the egg whites in a medium bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy.  Increase the speed to medium high and beat until the whites hold soft peaks.  Continue beating while gradually adding one portion of confectioners’ sugar.  Beat until firm, glossy peaks form.  Add the rosewater and mix briefly.  Sift the remaining confectioners’ sugar over the meringue and gently fold in until blended.

Scoop the meringue into a large pastry bag fitting with a large star tip.  Pipe swirls (about 1 ½” wide and 2″ high) about 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.   (If not using a pastry bag, just drop the meringue by 2 Tablespoonfuls).   Sprinkle the finely chopped pistachios over the meringues.

Bake until dry and crisp, about 3 hours.  Turn the oven off and let the meringues cool in the oven for 1 hour.  Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.  (And since I don’t have air conditioning, I can strongly recommend from experience to store your cookies in a cool place until you are ready to serve.)

This recipe was adapted from a meringue recipe in a wonderful book called Desserts 4 Today by Abigail Johnson Dodge that contains recipes for flavorful desserts using just four ingredients.

I hope you enjoyed sharing my rosewater meringues recipe.  Thank you so much for stopping by.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at Timewashed and Mona’s Picturesque.