Living over here in the Netherlands, nestled down south between Germany and Belgium, only a hop, skip, and a jump from France, I have made acquaintance with something marvelous. Literally.
If you haven’t had the pleasure, let me introduce you, my friends, to Merveilleux (pronounced mare-vay-yoo) – which translates from French to English as ‘marvelous’. Or ‘wonderful’. Or, if you want to take artistic license, ‘heavenly’. I like to call them marvelous, wonderful pieces of heaven. Which is what they are and totally works with the translation.
You’re probably wondering what these little lovelies are exactly, so allow me to elaborate. Take a couple of light, airy, puffy meringues and stack them on top of one another with a generous layer of fresh whipped cream between them. Now, cover the whole thing with a thick coat of more whipped cream and throw chocolate shavings at it. Lots of chocolate shavings.
Or chocolate sprinkles. Or chocolate chips. Just find some good chocolate and get it on that whipped cream, stat.
Friends, meet merveilleux. Merveilleux, say hello to my friends.
I originally made these little beauties for Valentine’s Day. I made my meringues in a heart shape to add some festiveness, and then tossed some sweet mini heart sprinkles in with the chocolate bits outside. But since I am of the there’s-no-such-thing-as-too-much-chocolate school, I also filled these babies with Nutella.
And then guess what? Today is World Nutella Day. I totally think serendipity is a thing, and it’s happening right here.
So why don’t I leave you here to get better acquainted with our new friend? 😉
Enjoy!
- FOR THE MERINGUES
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- pinch of salt
- FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Plus, about 6 tablespoons Nutella, or other chocolate hazelnut spread
- ½ cup to 1 cup chocolate shavings, sprinkles, or chips
- TO MAKE THE MERINGUES: In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Place the bowl on top of a medium sauce pan filled with a couple of inches of barely simmering water and set over medium heat. Gently whisk the mixture constantly until the sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bowl to the standing mixer (if you're not using a standing mixer, just remove the bowl from heat and use a handheld mixer), and whisk the mixture on high until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe or spoon neatly about 3 tablespoons servings of meringue on the prepared baking sheets, about an inch apart.
- Bake cookies (at 350 degrees) for 10 minutes, reduce temperature to 175 degrees (80C), and continue baking for 1½ hours, until cookies are crisp but not brown. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
- TO MAKE THE WHIPPED CREAM: In a medium bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the cream and sugar together on high speed. Once peaks begin to form, add the vanilla and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
- ASSEMBLE: Once the meringues are cooled, spread Nutella on top of half of them. Stack a plain meringue on top of each Nutella covered meringue. Frost the stacked meringues with whipped cream and cover generously in chocolate shavings. If desired, top with a candied or maraschino cherry. *Serve or refrigerate immediately. (The whipped cream will cause the meringues to wilt if left out too long.)
This is such a neat sounding dessert! I love the meringue and nutella mix! Yum!
This is beautiful!!
Holy moly macaroni these look sooooo good.
These sound SO good!
WHAT?! Where have these been all my life?? So lovely!!
This sounds amazing. Better yet, it sounds MARVELOUS! I love making a meringues for a fruit pizza I like to make in the summer time. It feels “healthier” than the sugar cookie “crust” you might typically see, but it still have sugar and all the good stuff:). I also use cream of tartar in my recipe, and sometimes I have forgotten it and have gotten bad results. Do you know what it does to make a difference in the meringue?
These do sound Maaaavelous! You mention to spread the meringue onto prepared baking sheets but don’t mention how you prepared them. Did you draw the hearts so you could pipe them or spread them? About how big are they? How thick was the meringue? Sorry to be such a bother but I want them to turn out perfectly. Thanks.
Holy cow um yes.
There is a place in New York City called Merveilleux that sells these. They are wonderful, but not as pretty or as delicious sounding as yours! Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your husband!
Wow! These are so darn pretty. I love layered desserts. For some reason, it just makes them seem that much more decadent… like each new layer goes on and on as it leads to the next layer. Bliss! Happy belated World Nutella Day!
Oh, these do look marvelous. We’re thinking of moving to England in a year or two, and I’m already thinking about the things I’ll be able to make once I have a kitchen that isn’t ridiculously hot and humid. I would never attempt meringues here, but in England, I could make these all day long.