No-one has ever accused me of being balanced. I throw myself enthusiastically head first into every endeavour I commit to (and perhaps why I commit myself to so little). I believe the word is obsessed which my family and friends call me, often in whispered tones and it’s such a pejorative statement anyway. Working on the the blog seven days a week from 9am until midnight is no hardship though although Mr NQN has suggested recently that I give myself a rest.
“A rest?” I looked at him with one eyebrow raised. It’s as if he suggested that I run a marathon or cut up my credit cards. Yes he said simply, you need one, otherwise you’ll become exhausted and jaded. The idea of becoming jaded with food was horrifying. The reason why he takes the photos in restaurants is because his hands are steadier than mine and I get so excited when a dish is brought to the table that I start shaking in excitement. I did not want to become jaded.
Oops missed one!
But back to balance. I had some leftover meringue from another recipe and I wanted to make something for a friend who was coming over for coffee. It was already sweetened and this friend doesn’t like particularly sweet food so I immediately though of ways to offset the sweetness and balance it. I opened my pantry and spied a bag of cocoa nibs from Coco Chocolates that I bought around Easter and a new block of Lindt dark cooking chocolate that they sent me. The crunchy bittersweet cacao nibs (the dry roasted bits of cocoa beans) and the bitter sweet dark chocolate would do it good. Then I thought that it would be nice to bake these so that they had a soft centre with a crunchy outer so I added some pearl sugar, often used to top bread in Scandinavian recipes. So not only would I get sweet and bittersweet but also crunchy and soft. Balance indeed.
In a strange way I feel that I am in fact balanced. I’m not 100% obsessed with food – there’s also fashion, beauty, TV, film, art and architecture that I also adore but I took his point. I did need to slow down a bit. I didn’t want to lose the thrill of scouring a restaurant menu or discovering a new recipe. And now I give myself a bit of a rest every night for a couple of hours and I feel much better for it. But more than that? I’m more likely to cut up my credit cards!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have an obsessive personality?
Crunchy & Soft Clouds
- 3 egg whites (90g/3 ozs)
- 3/4 cup caster/superfine sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cacao nibs
- 2 tablespoons pearl sugar
- 100grams dark chocolate
You will also need a piping bag
1. Preheat oven to 100C /212F. In a clean bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form and then add caster sugar one tablespoon at a time until shiny stiff peaks are formed and you can tip the bowl upside down without it moving (don’t try this on someone’s head! 
). Fold in cream of tartar and white vinegar well.
2. Fill a piping bag with a plain 1 cm nozzle (or you can use a star tip too) and pipe 4cm rounds onto 2 baking trays lined with baking parchment. They will spread a little so don’t pipe them too close together. Sprinkle over with cacao nibs and pearl sugar. Bake for 1 hour. They should still be soft and gooey in the centre.
3. Melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave and dip the bottoms into the bowl using a thin palette knife to remove and place back on parchment paper to set.
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71 Comments | Add your own
I love meringues because of the fun shapes they can take on — these are so cute!
I do think I have an obsessive personality. We’re probably very similar in that way! I am frequently reminded by the boyfriend that I’m doing way too much. It’s hard to slow down!
As much as I hate to say it, he may be right. I write food stories for my day job and between that and my blog and going to restaurants for work all week–I get burned out sometimes.
These look lovely Lorraine! Loved the cocoa nibs at Coco Chocolate! And yes, I think I def have an obsessive personality…
So pretty! I love your tablewear.
Cheers,
Rosa
lol, I can tell how “obsessive” your personality is just by reading this blog, Lorraine. You put a lot of work and effort into your blog…and it shows!
I’m the same way…not in everything, but there are some things which I just THROW myself into…I’m working on slowing it down, too!
I think were all a little obsessive about something. These look lovely. hehe I never notice I’ve missed one until I see the photo’s either.
I definitely have OCD tendencies and that’s been one of the harder parts of my love for food and baking/cooking, to enjoy my passions without letting them have a negative effect on my health and lifestyle. Love your discussion of this topic as well as these adorable *balanced* cookies
.
Think they’d go down well at work
What sweet little biscuits – and they sound delicious. Can I also say how much I adore your tea set! It is devine. I too have a rather obsessive personality – I throw myself into whatever I have committed to with vigour. I need a rest from the current project – I have been working to tight deadlines (some of which are due to my own initial procrastination) and really, really need a good week’s sleep!
I get the whole jaded thing- sometimes I need to take a week off from blogging just to recuperate! It’s not that I stop loving food, it’s just that sometimes I love it so much, I need to keep a little for myself. I can’t imagine how you must feel- you are such a prolific blogger!
Those are some fancy looking cocoa nibs. I get mine from the health food shop to put in smoothies. They’re so good! I love this idea and how you just improvised and whipped it up
I am possibly obsessed with Italy and travel, but how is that bad?
these look very elegant – perhaps that is the result of balance – or the old fashioned black and white starkness! I am curious to know if there is much difference between the lindt cooking chocolate and eating chocolate – have never understood why there are different ones – shouldn’t they all just be good quality?
I prefer it when people say I am intense rather than obsessed – sounds so much nicer – am sure you are very intense too
Hi Lorraine
These look interesting but one of the ingredients is missing. Can you fill it in for us please??
For once I’m not rushing to make this one as due to childhood overload I hate meringues(yes even hate a good ol pavlova) BUT, I find myself coveting your tea set, is it vintage? It works perfectly with those meringues (which do look great I admit)
These cute, little clouds looks so good with their chocolate bases! I’m completely obsessed with food too. So, I try not to notice how much time I spend on things related to it!
lol i’m featuring Lindt chocolate on my blog today too!
Looks like a childhood treat I used to love.
and yes, I do have an obsessive personality… I sometimes joke I have OCD…it’s just a mild case, I promise!
These look lovely, Lorraine! Meringue is always such a treat.
I don’t know about obsessive, but I could do with a rest!
Obsessive? Absolutely – hundreds and hundreds of recipe books, boxes of recipes cut-out of magazines, a computer full of recipes! Other people watch DVDs and I read recipe books…then go out for dinner.
PS. Love the ‘clouds’.
What a lovely creation! These look beautiful. I haven’t seen the Lindt cooking chocolate before – what makes it different to their normal 70% I wonder?
I would feel so honored if I showed up at your house for coffee and found these little cloud of perfection waiting for me. As far as an obsessive personality – with me blog, that is definitely the case!
These meringue cloud cookies are so elegant. They look like something appropriately served during a black-tie event!
Last year I came across a recipe calling for cocoa nibs and had never heard of them! Recently I have seen quite a few recipes calling for them, so I’m going to have to track some down and go for it!
Coco Chocolates looks like a heavenly place and your meringues look like a bit of heaven!
Yes, Yes, and Yes.
I got such an ethereal visual from the name “Cloud Meringue” and your photos reinforced it!
Almost too beautiful to eat… I said almost
oooooh what a tasty little treat! So adorable
I tend to take on too much and am always being told by Mr BBB to slow down
SO beautiful, Lorraine!
I love their chocolate dipped bottoms. 
I bet your friends love coming over for coffee. Those clouds look very dainty and seem perfect as an afternoon treat. Lovely tea set too!
oh yes I do have an obsessive personality too. I hate myself for it sometimes to be honest.
I love that meringue cookies I wish I could have some.. and the coffee too
Oh yum Lorraine, these look incredible! I have waves of obsession, and then I need a break before I get obsessed again (except for food, I’m ALWAYS obsessed with that!)
I love the aesthetic set-up of your photos in the post – marvellous. Yes, I think I can have a bit of an obsessive personality, and it can become a problem when I won’t let myself stop/quit something when t’s makign me unhappy. Or maybe that’s more a problem of self-imposed perfectionism?
Hmm. But regardless, I think giving yourself a few hours’ break is a good idea – I don’t want you becoming jaded and unhappy either!
LoL.. I think Mr.FSK and Mr NQN should not meet else we will both be forced to “slow down”. My hub thinks my blog is a sometimes unhealthy obsession for me too!
) Although I just think he mistakes my passion for OCD 
These look so sweet. I love meringues, in fact made some the other day but they got eaten before I could get a photo thanks to my boyfriends 2 boys that were visiting.
By the way, I love your tea tray. SO gorgeous. Where did you getit from?
Yes, crazy obsessive, but my very sensible husband helps to keep me in check. I’ve been baking meringues too! Yours look wonderful…
Hi Lorraine,
crunchy AND soft, very tactile! These sound absolutely irresistible, definitely on the menu this week-end. I can totally relate to the obsessive reference – once I start a project I totally run with it and everyone is always amazed with the extremes that I go to. Well, I do believe it’s no use doing something unless you’re going to give it all you’ve got … right?!!
Kind regards, Lynette
Those look so ethereal!
Lovely meringue! And I am a little obsessive with food. And I don’t ever want to be jaded. I think we are just too focused?
not a huge fan of meringues, but these look great! I would sure give them a try, especially over coffee or tea time.
Give it a rest indeed. Mr NQN clearly forgot who he was talking to that day. The thought of being jaded about food is sad indeed – much like the father in Eat Drink Man Woman when he lost his mojo.
Oh – and I’d like a batch of the cloud cookies sent over please. Please?
You sound like my husband. He will get thoroughly obsessed about a subject and talk about and research nothing else for weeks on end. Good thing, though, that there are so many of us obsessed with great food. It brings us all together on one delicious common ground.
In between admiring you for what you do, I have often wondered how you do it! If you have passion for somethng it’s not a chore. People ask me if I hate cooking at home after cooking all day at work, and the answer is rarely yes. And to be honest, who doesn’t want a rest just now and then, but I love cooking and I love my job, I’m lucky that they co-incide. With your love of food and of people,I guess you are too.
Another one ‘guilty’ of an obsessive personality here. These look so dainty and sweet, and I love the way you have served them. Lucky friend!
Just beautiful. I have got to try making meringues one of these days?
Do I have an obsessive personality? MOI???? Absolutely!
Have a fab day!
*kisses* HH
The way you’ve presented these in the picture with the black crockery is so elegant, I love it!
Glad to hear it’s not just me who spends so much time on their blog although I suspect your efforts are better harnessed then mine!!!
For awhile I thought it’s a chocolate cookie with a meringue top! They look gorgeous!
These look sensational, love, love, love dark chocolate and I’ll bet they are so light that there aren’t any calories! I think you have a very balanced outlook – sometimes you make then review and other times you review someone else’s cooking – balanced!
So classy and beautiful. Like you
Well, I was staring at this for 5 minutes – so YES I do have an obsessive personality – especially when it comes to staring at really pretty desserts!
Know what you mean – very easy to become obsessive if you have a blog! Mr NQN sounds quite sensible.
Love love love that first photo.
oh YUM! I love anything with dark chocolate, except those ants my grandfather brought back from overseas. Ewww.
And me obsessive? Nah. Not at all… heh heh heh
I get obsessive about the design work I do – if I can’t get something to work I’ve been known to stay up for hours and hours trying to figure it out!!!
These look so pretty but I am sadly not a meringue fan – the texture makes me shudder!!
Such adorable treats, I knew they would be like that even before I saw the pictures, your title was so descriptive! Yes please tell us more about the tea set, it is gorgeous!
I think your cookies look very elegant and sophisticated
Delicious!
I’m not sure about obsessive but I do need to finish things I start… & have a tendency to start too much!
These are lovely, Lorraine. Unfortunately, meringues do not do well in our humidity. You’d have to eat them immediately as they get soggy in an hour! I have tried to keep them in a well sealed container, but it doesn’t work very well.
By the way, I am way older than you and I have never become jaded about food, learning new things about food and trying everything!
Hi! Stumbled upon your blog. I love Nigella so your blog name definitely stands out. Your pics look great!
Guilty as charged…Often with the back end that probably no-one even notices anyway – but it takes me ages to figure it all out because I am so computer illiterate, well I was ;P
I also do way too much, but the way I figure it, I don’t want to get old and look back on my life and wish I did more. I don’t think that will happen.
i find that i’m extremely obsessive when it comes to certain things, but i couldn’t be more lax about others. i’m an odd duck.
love the cookies–i’d make quick work of the one you missed.
Ha, I wish I was that active on my blog that people would tell me to ‘slow down’. However I am addicted to blog browsing, and such, and have been told off a lot wrt it! These look soo good, never thought meringues could look so elegant.
These look stunning. Love the idea of using cocoa nibs too – a great way to counteract the sweetness of meringues.
Oh these are so lovely. Perfect for a sophisticated tea party! (I errr.. obsess about afternoon teas. A lot.) I really like the tea set as well!
So very creative Lorraine , your obsession is well rewarded and how lovely of Mr.NQN for looking out for you. Very sweet.
I think that I’m pretty balanced in most things except when an item is lost by myself or family member. I’m the proverbial hounddog and I won’t give up the search until the item is found . Nine times out of ten I do find such item and it bugs the hell out of me when I fail.
What a beautiful presentation of these georgous treats, Lorraine!
Waw!! Luscious looking!!
Now, I woiuld like to savour at least 4 of them!
Many kisses from Brussels!!!!
those look yummy!
obsessive? me?
… why yes, i definitely am.
I think you have to be a little bit obsessive to have a blog – it’s a pre-requisite:-) Love the clouds. If only real clouds were dipped like that then it could rain chocolate …see OCD and silly too.
They sound delish! Is there any time where you just want to cook or go out without the camera? There’s been a few times I’ve felt like that but then I think about how it might be something great I’ll want to blog about later on and will kick myself for not taking photos.
I like your “don’t try this on someone’s head” tip – if only someone had told my sister that before we tried making pavlova as kids
Mmm.. little clouds from heaven they are.
Super-appreciative of the work you do Lorraine. To throw yourself into a project doing the hours you do, and be as enthusiastic as ever – that’s awesome.
Blogs are terribly obsessive, being accessible 24-7. The number of times i’ve fired up my laptop in bed at 2am with an idea. Need some boundaries, ha ha
I’m so happy I’m cleaning out my in box. I missed this post and in my heart, Lorraine, this is so me. I’m a black and white type, in design and passion. I’m obsessive with everything I get into. I compulsively must follow NQN.:). I’m wondering how well do these travel to take to a party?I like the “showoffy” factor too.
Omg they sound too delicious!!!!
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