What’s cooking

You can thank the French, Swiss and Italians for inventing meringue. But we growers take the credit for adding fresh oranges. This is one dessert worth fussing over.

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 tsp. cream of tartar
• Dash salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
• One 4-serving package vanilla pudding mix
• 1 & 1/2 cups Florida’s Natural^® Orange Juice
• 1/2 cup vanilla or pineapple yogurt
• 3 medium oranges, peeled, sectioned and seeded
• 1 cup strawberries, quartered
• 1/2 cup blueberries

Instructions

• For meringues: Let eggs stand in a large mixing bowl for 30 minutes; add vanilla extract, cream of tartar and dash of salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating for a total of about 7 minutes on high speed until stiff peaks form, and sugar is almost dissolved. Fold in 1/2 teaspoon orange peel.
• Cover a baking sheet with clean brown paper. Draw eight 3-inch circles on paper. Pipe meringue onto circles, building up the sides to form deep shells (or use a spoon to spread meringue). Bake in a 300° F oven for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven. Let shells dry in the oven with door closed for 1 hour. Remove from paper; cool.*
• Meanwhile, cook pudding mix according to package directions, but add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon orange peel and use the 1 & 1/2 cups orange juice instead of milk. Transfer cooked pudding to a bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly. To serve, fold yogurt into pudding and divide among meringue shells on plates. Top pudding with orange sections and berries. Garnish with orange wedges or orange peel curls, if desired.
• *For a shortcut, substitute ready-made graham cracker tart shells for meringue, or serve without shells in dessert dishes.

Serves 8