Amazing news we thought would never happen – we officially gave up renting and bought a house!
Well, technically that is largely untrue. My in-laws bought a house, really, but we put in our small share which finds us living in a rather palatially large share. Sounds fair, right?
For the first time I don’t have to confirm with a landlord if I want to paint a wall (which I ALWAYS do), I don’t have to hope no one will notice we screwed a planter box onto the side of the house, I don’t have to pay someone else’s mortgage for them, I don’t have to cram 4 people’s lives into less than 900 square feet…all positives.
On the other hand, I do have to care if my appliances break down or my roof leaks. I do have to clean like I might be there in two years facing the same (no doubt morphed) dirt if I don’t deal with it now. I do have to commit to staying in one place for a reasonable amount of time.
Anyway, we’re very excited about it, so let’s all celebrate with a crumbly, sweet, delicious slice of this light and fresh gluten-free meringue torte!
I inherited a stack of old Cooking Light magazines from my aunt, and thoroughly enjoyed going through each one and ripping out recipes to try at a later date. As I work my way through them, I have to say I have yet to be disappointed by one, and since the magazine is called Cooking Light I feel like they must be healthy…and actually, a serving (an eighth) of this dessert comes in at less than 200 calories! This torte was a big hit with adults and kids alike; it’s really light and fresh and inherently eatable.
I love a gluten free dessert that just happens to be gluten free, like this one, not one that requires all kinds of special ingredients or results in “just slightly off” textures. This is basically fruit pavlova in a fancy stacked form, which looks impressive, and is beautifully messy to serve. Since this dessert travelled, and I refuse to become that person who puts things on hold to photograph food at other people’s homes, you can click here to see what the inside looks like if the curiosity is killing you.
This is a very low-effort dessert if you have a mixer, a bit more laborious if you’re whisking your egg whites by hand (it can be done, but have a reinforcement handy for when your forearm cramps…been there).
P.S. This would be amazing with a combo of berries too, or just raspberries. Everything is good with just raspberries.
Raspberries, raspberries, you sweet red delights
I could eat you all morning, noon, eve and night.
You’re tart and you’re sweet (I know what that’s like)
We’re two peas in a pod, we’re that much alike.
Ahem.
- 4 large egg whites
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups (about 1 lb) sliced strawberries
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and draw 2 8" circles on the paper (I trace around a cake pan). Turn paper over drawing-side down and secure with masking tape.
- Beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar at high speed of a mixer until foamy. Gradually add the 1 cup of sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
- Divide the mixture over the 2 8" circles, spreading with the back of a spoon. Bake for 1 - 1¼ hours or until meringues are crisp and dry (on a humid day this may take an extra 20 minutes). Sprinkle each meringue with 3 Tablespoons chocolate chips and return to oven. Turn off oven and let meringues stand for 5 minutes to soften chocolate. Remove from oven and spread softened chocolate with a spatula. Cool meringues to room temperature. Meanwhile, sprinkle strawberries with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar; cover and set aside.
- To assemble, place 1 meringue on a serving platter, spread 1 cup whipped topping over it and top with half the strawberries. Repeat with second meringue, second cup of whipped topping, and remaining strawberries. Melt 1 Tablespoon of chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzle over top.
- Barely adapted from Cooking Light magazine.
Wow! This recipe looks absolutely AMAZING!:) Thank you so so much for your amazing comments and support of my blog!
Anna! So exciting you bought (sort of) a house! We definitely need to hang out soon so you can tell me all about it.
Oh my. This is the most gorgeous meringue I’ve seen yet this season. Wow. Congrats on the house too!!
I am witness to the fact that this dessert is delicious…and I love the poem you tart, sweet girl you :)
I loved this post. Very amusing and made me chuckle. Any fellow Canuck is sane in my book. This recipe is gorgeous. Just love it. Congrats on the house. We bought our first about 4 years ago and are so glad we did. We bought my Dad’s place after he passed and now the house remains in the family which is so great. Needed tons of work though. We just do what we can when we can. Can’t wait to see more recipes, perhaps some house pics.
I’ll definitely be posting house pics soon! We get the keys at the end of the month, and it needs a LOT of work so the before and after shots will be fun :) That’s so neat that you were able to keep your home in the family!
Mmm, thanks for sharing! Lucas will be very happy!
Yay! Congrats on buying a house! So exciting! When’s the big moving day?
That dessert looks delicious!