Recipe - Pear Sorbet In Meringue Shells

32 ounce Pear slices in light or
heavy syrup*
2 tablespoon Pear liqueur; or to taste*
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

MERINGUE SHELLS
Butter, unsalted; for baking
sheets
Flour; for baking sheets
4 Egg Whites; room temp
One half teaspoon Cream of tartar
1 pn Salt
1 cup Sugar
One half teaspoon Vanilla extract

RASPBERRY SAUCE
10 ounce Raspberries, frozen; thawed
2 tablespoon Sugar, superfine
One half teaspoon Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Lemon juice; or lime juice

* This sorbet, based simply on commercially canned pears, can be
: enhanced with the flavor of eaudevie de poire (pear liqueur) or,
: if preferred, with fresh lemon juice. Pears in heavy syrup make a
: smoothtextured sorbet; pears in light syrup yield a grainier or
: icier sorbet.

One day before serving, place cans of pears in coldest part of freezer.
Freeze until completely frozen, at least 6 hours. Rinse cans briefly under
warm water. Open each can at both ends, leaving bottom of can in place.
Push the frozen pears and syrup into a large bowl. Let stand just until
softened enough to break frozen mass easily into 3 or 4 pieces, about 15
minutes. Remove to food processor.

Process pear mixture, using repeated on/off motion, until slushy. Add
liqueur and lemon juice; process until blended. Spoon into freezer
container. Freeze, tightly covered, until sorbet is solid and flavors
mellow, at least 3 hours.

Meringues: Butter 2 large baking sheets; dust with flour and shake off
excess. Using a 4inch cardboard template or saucer and the point of a
wooden skewer or pick, outline four 4inch circles, even spaced, on each
baking sheet. Set aside.

Heat oven to 200F.

Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in large bowl on medium speed
until stiff but not dry. Beat in 2/3 cup of the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a
time, beating thoroughly after each addition; beat in vanilla; then
continue to beat until whites are very stiff and shiny. If mixture feels
grainy when small amount is rubbed between your two fingers, sugar is not
dissolved completely, and mixture must be beaten a little longer. Fold in
remaining sugar gently but thoroughly.

Spoon meringue gently into large pastry bag fitted with 1/2inch fluted
tip; fill in traced circles on baking sheets, starting at center of each
circle and working to outside edge, in even spiral. When all circles are
filled, pipe a standing rim around circumference of each circle.

Bake meringue shells until dry and very pale beige, 2 to 2One half hours. Turn
off oven; let meringues stand in oven with door closed 2 hours.

Remove baking sheets to wire racks; let meringues stand 15 minutes; then
carefully loosen them with wide flat metal spatula and transfer to wire
racks. Let cool completely. Use immediately or store loosely covered at
room temperature up to 3 days.

Sauce: Puree raspberries in food processor; press through sieve and
discard seeds. Mix sugar and cornstarch in small saucepan; stir in
raspberry puree gradually; stir until thoroughly blended. Heat over low
heat, stirring constantly, until sauce boils and thickens. Remove from
heat. Refrigerate until very cold, at least 2 hours. Stir in lemon juice
before serving.

Scoop generous portions of sorbet into meringue shells. Pour raspberry
sauce over each serving. Serve immediately.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini