Fruit Filled Meringue Shells

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites

• ¾ tsp. vanilla

• ¼ tsp. cream of tartar

• ⅔ cup sugar

• 1 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed

• 2  Tbs. sugar

• ½ tsp. cornstarch

• whip cream or whipped topping

• 3 cup peeled and sliced peaches or other fresh fruit

Preparation

Let egg whites stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.  Cover a baking sheet with plain brown paper,  Draw six 3 inch circles on the paper.  Add vanilla and cream of tartar to egg whites.  Beat until soft peaks form.  Add sugar slowly, beat at high speed until stiff peaks form and sugar is almost dissolved.  Pipe meringue through a pastry tube onto the circles building up side to create shells, or use the back of a spoon to spread the meringue over the circles and leaving a hollowed out area.  Bake in 300°F oven for 35 minutes.  Turn oven off.  Let meringue shells dry in the oven, with the door closed, for 1 hour.  Remove the meringue shells from the baking sheet.  Store in air tight container.

For raspberry sauce, in a blender puree berries the press through a fine sieve, discard seeds.  In a saucepan stir together 2 Tbs. sugar and cornstarch.  Add puree.  Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.  Remove from heat.  Cool sauce.  Cover surface and chill about 1 hour.  Fill each shell with ½ cup fruit.