Thursday, February 21, 2013

Light, Fluffy and Oh, So Good!

 
     You are seeing a "theme" in my cooking style lately. It is all about eating healthy without giving up anything...like dessert! Valentine's Day we decided to avoid the crowds and have dinner at home. We had filets, salad and baked potatoes for dinner. I wanted to make something special for dessert and I found a recipe online from Taste of Home that was just perfect for us. I made a few minor adjustments and put it through a calorie counter. Each slice of 1/12th of the torte has 151 calories without whipping cream. I added 2 T. of Reddi Whip real whipping cream for an additional 15 calories.  
 
     Strawberry Schaum Torte
 
Ingredients:
8 egg whites
1 T. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups sliced strawberries
whipping cream (optional)
 
Preheat Oven to 300 degrees
Grease a 10 inch springform pan (I used Pam)
 
 
     Place egg whites in a bowl and let them stand 30 minutes to room temperature. Add the vinegar, vanilla and salt and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until glossy and stiff peaks have formed. Beat long enough for the sugar to be almost completely dissolved. See picture below.

 
Spread into the greased springform pan.
Bake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until lightly browned.
 
 
Remove from the oven and put on a wire rack to cool.
The meringue will come out of the oven very puffy and pretty.
 
 
Then it falls to smashed and ugly!
 
 
When cool, remove the sides from the
springform pan and place on serving plate.
 
 
     At this point, if you are serving a group...you could put the berries and whipped cream on the entire top of the torte. We were only using 2 slices, so I decorated each piece and put the rest in a container in the refrigerator. It was perfectly delicious for a couple of days after it was made. It is very light and soft. It was the perfect ending to our meal without making us feel stuffed.
 
 
 
     I'm often asked if we really use the tablescapes that I set. The truth is...not often. Last week I showed the table set for a Valentine brunch. That table wasn't used. The picture below shows how the table really looked for the two of us on Valentine's Day.
 
 
I am joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for
Tablescape Thursday and
Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm for
Foodie Friday


14 comments:

Entertaining Women said...

We try to eat smart at our house, too. The torte looks delicious. Company worthy! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Cherry Kay

Phyllis @Around the House said...

Your dessert looked so wonderful, I may have to try that for dinner tonight, it looks so fresh and light, thanks for the recipe.

Diane said...

Wow, does that look yummy! I usually am not a big sweets eater, but lately I have been craving them. This is the perfect answer. I must try it. Thanks for sharing.

NanaDiana said...

Oh- Sue- This is one of my favorite desserts in the whole world. Yours makes my mouth water. Have a great day- xo Diana

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Yum! Thanks for sharing. Strawberries and whip cream sounds so good to me right now.

Barbara F. said...

I love your "theme", Sue. This looks like a pavlova. Wish I had a slice right now. xo

Lynn said...

Your torte looks beautiful Sue! Thanks for sharing a lighter dessert:@)

Mosaic Magpie said...

My grandmother always had this dessert for special occasions and quite often in the summer. She grew strawberries and froze them so she would have them on hand. The Scharm Tortes, as she called them, were made in a smaller version allowing them to sit in a small bowl with ice cream and the strawberries crowning them. What a special memory you have brought back to me!
xo,
Deb

The Quintessential Magpie said...

That's a very pretty table and a delicious dessert, Sue.

I'm sorry I've been MIA. Lots of things going on here, and we had another death this week that was a real heartblow.

Thanks so much for checking on me.

Much love to you...

XO,

Sheila

Anonymous said...

This looks so good, Sue! Yum!

Relyn Lawson said...

Oh so good. I'll say!

koralee said...

Yummmmm....this dessert looks amazing..I always ask for pavlova for my birthday every year...this sort of reminds me of it. Happy weekend. xo

bj said...

Wow...this looks so pretty and so delicious.
My mom made some kind of cookies much like this...can't remember just what they were....seems she called them Forgotten Cookies because you put them in an over, turned it off and waited several minutes before taking them out. hmmmmmm

Ricki Treleaven said...

Yum....I want one! It does remind me of a Pavlova!