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+ servings
Meringue Christmas tree on a pedestal with whipped cream and raspberries.
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5 from 1 vote

Meringue Christmas Tree

A stunning addition to a Christmas table. You can make the meringue well ahead and assemble the day you want to serve. It is easier than it looks!
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Assembly1 hour
Total Time3 hours 40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 15 servings
Calories: 326kcal

Ingredients

Meringue

  • 8 egg whites
  • 2 cups super fine sugar (you can put regular sugar in your food processor to make it finer)
  • ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional - it will darken your meringue)

Filling

  • 3 cups whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 Tbsps icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Or substitute liqueur of your choice)
  • 2 6oz pkgs fresh raspberries rinsed and picked over
  • other cake decoration sprinkles as desired (optional)

Raspberry Coulis

  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 Tbsps water
  • 16 oz fresh raspberries (or 12 oz frozen raspberries)
  • 1 teaspoon fruit liqueur such as Chambord, Kirsch or Framboise wine (optional)

Instructions

Meringue

  • Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Separate your racks to hold 2 sheet pans.
  • Cut 4 parchment circles approximately 8 ¼". 7" 6 " and 4 ¼ '. (Or proportionately to fit your serving platter). Position your parchment paper circles on the 2 baking sheets.
  • Beat the cold egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Beat the sugar in slowly - sprinkle a Tablespoon in at a time. Add vanilla if using and continue beating until it is glossy with firm peaks.
  • Using a pastry bag and a large pastry tip (I used Wilton 2D tip) pipe the meringue on to your largest parchment circle to form a tree shape. Make the tips reach the outer rim of your parchment circle and indent as you go around to mimic an evergreen tree. Continue piping to fill in the inner circle with meringue. Repeat for the next two layers. For the final, smallest layer pipe florettes in a circle to form the peak of the tree.
  • Reduce the oven heat to 250 degrees F. Place the baking sheets on the racks. Bake 2 hours,switching the trays on the racks after 1 hour.
  • Meringues should be dry to the touch when done. After 2 hours, allow meringues to cool in the oven with the door open for another hour.

Filling

  • Beat whipping cream and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and vanilla or liqueur. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
  • When meringues are cool you can start to assemble the tree. (See notes) Start with largest meringue for your base. Pipe the whipped cream about a ½ " inside the edge of the meringue base, following the evergreen tree shape. You will want to have a thin bit of outer edge of the meringue bare, then about 1" of whipped cream showing, then the next meringue layer. You will be using the whipped cream showing to hold your decorations.
  • Reserve one pkg of raspberries to decorate the final assembled cake. You will use the other container to sprinkle a few berries around the inside area each layer of whipped cream. (See Note 2)
  • Repeat by adding the next meringue layer, whipped cream layer and berries. When you get to the tree top, just pipe a few cream florettes to hold the tree top raspberry.
  • Once the meringue and whipped cream layers are assembled,decorate the tips of the 'tree' with a fresh raspberry. You can also sprinkle little star or snowflake decorations so they catch on the whipped cream. (See Note 3). You can also pipe florettes around the base of the tree to hold more raspberries.

Raspberry Coulis

  • Heat the sugar and water over medium heat til the sugar is dissolved. Put syrup and berries in the blender and puree. Strain mixture through a a fine mesh sieve. Add the liqueur if using.

Serving

  • To serve, you will want to present the full tree at the table. Take another large plate with you. Remove the top layer. Transfer serving size portion to a dessert plate and serve with a dollop of Raspberry Coulis sauce.

Notes

Note 1:  You can make the meringue a day ahead and store in an air tight container in the fridge.
Note 2:  If you want to use other flavour accents in the filling you can add them in the inside of the layers along with the raspberries. See Note 3- if you are using other decorating features like Skor crumbles or white chocolate chips on the outside of the tree you may want to sprinkle a few between the layers as well.
Note 3:  You can use Christmas cake decorating sprinkles to 'decorate' the tree. You could add Skor crumbles as decorations and flavour enhancers. You can add truffle accents.  While the basic version is still delicious you can get as creative as you like here.
This recipe is adapted from SugarGolden Bakes, an awesome fellow blogger!
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Nutrition

Calories: 326kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 45mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 37g