Looking for a sweet treat that's just as fancy as macarons, but much easier to make? Raspberry Meringue Kisses are the answer. Come join us as we have fun hosting a delightful blue and white-themed summer afternoon tea picnic. We choose a shady place outdoors under the weeping willow tree and set a pretty table of sparkling silver and nostalgic and traditional blue & white china. These light, fresh (gluten-free) Meringue Kisses are part of a lovely dessert offering.
It's time to pour the tea and enjoy an afternoon with good food and good friends.
Well, hello friends!
I've been absent from this blog for a while (involved in a very exciting food project, which I'll be able to tell you about in a few months), and am so happy to be back with our first picnic adventure of the year.
We got together with our foodie partners-in-crime, Nicoletta and Loreto, to enjoy a magical summer afternoon tea picnic under the weeping willow tree in our yard. The day couldn't have been more perfect - the sun shone brightly but a slight breeze gently stirred the hanging willow fronds just enough to keep us cool and comfortable under its shady bower.
The last of the peonies from the garden set the mood with their glorious lushness and gentle perfume.
We loved gathering a collection of pretty, mismatched, antique china in shades of blue and white, along with a stunning silver tea set I scooped up at a thrift store. What a treasure it turned out to be after I gave it a good polish and a shine!
White linens and lace placemats crocheted by my mother added a warm, cozy elegance to the table. The beautiful silver 3-tiered cake stand was loaded with mouthwatering teatime fare, and the little Dutch cow creamer added a touch of whimsy.
A Proper Afternoon Tea in the Garden
As is traditional for an English afternoon tea, we poured the tea (a choice of black tea or herbal tea), laid our napkins onto our laps, and started nibbling from the bottom of the cake stand up. We enjoyed tea sandwiches of chicken salad with pops of sweet strawberries and poppyseeds on white bread (tied with a green chive ribbon) and cream cheese ones with a luscious smoked dilly salmon on whole wheat bread. (These Coronation chicken salad sandwiches would be lovely, too.) Nicoletta's freshly made cheese gougères were a hit, devoured greedily by all - we saved one for Pippa, our resident tea-party-loving labrador retriever.
The next level of the cake stand offered the classic afternoon tea scone selection - flaky regular scones and tender gluten-free fruit scones (with currants). They were slathered with a choice of homemade clotted cream, fresh strawberry jam (from this year's crop), and a most deliciously tart and velvety ruby-red rhubarb butter.
Dessert was an enticing array of tiny custard tarts studded with fresh berries, those delicate raspberry meringue kisses (recipe below), fresh raspberries filled with a dollop of fudgy chocolate ganache, slices of chocolate & biscuit 'salami', and a lovely miniature poppyseed layer cake frosted with blueberry chantilly cream.
We like to set the table with a luncheon-sized plate at each setting, for the scones and dessert, topped with a smaller bread plate to be used first for the savoury course.
A Blue & White Afternoon Tea Menu
A blue & white Afternoon Tea feels so much more special served outside under the willow tree.
BLUE & WHITE AFTERNOON TEA PICNIC MENU
Savouries
Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad Tea Sandwiches
Smoked Dill Salmon and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches
Cheese Gougères
Scones
English Scones
Gluten-Free Fruit Scones
Homemade Clotted Cream, Strawberry Jam, & Rhubarb Butter
Sweets
Mini Custard Berry Tarts
Raspberry Meringue Kisses & Ganache-Filled Fresh Raspberries
Poppyseed Cake with Blueberry Chantilly Cream
Chocolate Salami Slices
Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries
Beverages
Wild Blueberry Black Tea
Meadow Blossom Herbal Tea
Saskatoon Berry Juice
Lemon Water
Afternoon tea is about transporting yourself to another world, a gentler world, one where your daily cares get pushed aside for a while. It's a time to bring out your treasured dishes and prettiest linens. They don't need to match. They just need to make you smile. It's about stopping and taking the time to enjoy delicious nibbles and wonderful conversation with the special people in your life. We all need that.
I challenge you to take the step. Start small or go big. Invite one friend over for a cup of tea and a scone, or pull out all the stops and host an afternoon tea picnic for a few more.
It's Tea Time!
Other Picnic Inspiration
We really enjoy having picnics! What better way to spend time with friends in a beautiful location and eating delicious food?
See our other picnics for some great recipes and inspiration, along with lots of practical tips for hosting an afternoon tea party of your own:
- Gluten-Free Victoria Sponge Cake and a Lovely Summer Afternoon Tea Picnic
- Coronation Chicken Salad Sandwiches and a Perfect Afternoon Tea Picnic
- Butter Pecan Bars and a Glowing Afternoon Tea Picnic in the Orchard
- Gluten-Free Sausage Rolls and a Glorious Autumn Picnic
- Homemade Tomato Soup and a Late Fall Picnic by the Lake
- Lemon Mousse and a Fun & Games Picnic
- Scotch Eggs and a Scottish Picnic at the River
And check out Nicoletta and Loreto's blog, SugarLoveSpices, for the tasty Cheese Gougères recipe and their story of our afternoon tea picnic.
Now for the Easy Raspberry Meringue Kisses
Light and crispy shells, slightly chewy on the inside, bursting with tangy raspberry flavour - what's not to love? They're a little bit like French macarons (but much easier to make) and Italian Baci di Dama cookies (but in berry form). These raspberry meringue kisses are the taste of summer in two sweet mouthfuls, shaped just like two lips in a juicy kiss. They add a sweet note to any afternoon tea party.
What You'll Need
These Raspberry Meringue Kisses use freeze-dried raspberry powder for an intense burst of berry flavour (you could use strawberry powder, too) which doesn't add moisture to the delicate meringue or creamy filling. The powder is available online or in specialty stores, or you can use whole freeze-dried raspberries and grind them to a powder in a blender or spice grinder, then sieve out the seeds.
What to Do
Whip the egg whites and sugar until stiff and glossy. If you're grinding freeze-dried raspberries, make sure to grind them in short bursts - just enough to grind the flesh of the berries but leave the seeds whole, then strain them out in a fine-meshed sieve. Gently mix the raspberry powder and almond flour into the beaten egg whites.
And pipe the batter into little kisses. Bake at a low temperature to crisp up the meringues. Double-panning the cookie sheets prevents the bottoms from browning too much.
Whip up the filling in the mixer or by hand. I added a few fine crumbles of freeze-dried raspberries to provide a bit of texture.
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Guten Appetit!
Raspberry Meringue Kisses
Equipment
- piping bag or ziptop bag
- 2 cookie sheets
- parchment paper
Ingredients
for the raspberry meringues:
- 2 large egg whites
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons freeze-dried raspberry powder (or ~15 grams whole freeze-dried raspberries, ground to a powder and sieved)
- 1 drop of pink gel food colour, optional
- 1¼ cups (125 g) finely ground blanched almond flour
for the raspberry filling:
- ½ package (125 g/4 oz) full-fat regular cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, softened
- ½ cup (65 g) icing sugar/powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons freeze-dried raspberry powder (or ~15 grams whole freeze-dried raspberries, ground to a powder and sieved)
Instructions
to make the raspberry meringues:
- Preheat the oven to 275℉ (140℃). Line a large cookie sheet (preferably light-coloured metal) with parchment paper. Have another cookie sheet the same size or slightly larger ready.
- Beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy. Gradually add in the sugar, beating until the meringue is stiff and glossy, about 5 minutes with an electric mixer.
- Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.
- On low speed, beat in the corn starch and raspberry powder, until evenly blended in. Add a drop of pink gel colouring, if desired.
- Fold in the almond flour by hand or on the lowest speed of the mixer.
- Scrape the batter into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (¼"-½") or into a large heavy-duty ziptop plastic bag, and snip off one corner.
- Pipe the batter into small even rounds (1¼"/3 cm in diameter), 1" (2.5 cm) apart. Wet your finger and dab off the excess moisture, then use the dampened finger to pat down the peak at the center of each cookie, re-wetting your finger as needed (if your finger is dripping wet, it will make the center of the cookie bake up with uneven, rough texture).
- Slide the baking pan into the second pan, so the bottom of the pan is doubled up (to insulate it and prevent excess browning of the bottom of the cookies).
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or just until you see the edges of some of the outer cookies turning a pale golden colour - you don't want any browning of the cookies.
- Remove from the oven, and cool the cookies in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully peel them off the parchment paper and cool completely on a cooling rack.
make the raspberry filling:
- Beat together the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the icing sugar and raspberry powder and beat until evenly distributed and creamy.
- Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a ¼" (.5 cm) round tip, or into a heavy-duty plastic ziptop with the corner snipped off.
fill the meringue kisses:
- When the meringue shells are completely cooled, match them up into same-sized pairs. Pipe a generous dollop of raspberry filling onto one cookie and top with the other cookie. Squeeze them gently together until the filling comes even with the outer edges of the cookies.
- The cookies are best served after a few hours (or overnight) in a sealed container, to allow the meringue shells to absorb some of the filling and soften slightly, getting more chewy in the center.
Nicoletta
It was another memorable afternoon, Margaret! So much fun and the food is always outstanding. Until our next one!