Cherries, and Berries, and Clouds--Oh My!!

Good morning. Today's posting may be mostly about food, but I am not sure, as I haven't written it yet.  We are never quite sure until we do it.

Last night I made the base and the cloud for Cherry Berries on a Cloud.  I had already sliced a trillion strawberries and lightly sugared them, and stored them in the refrigerator. There they sit, juicing themselves, under a plastic wrap.  Near them are boxes of  other berries, awaiting their introduction at the very last when they are incorporated into the berry bowl.

And the cherries? Well may you ask.

Have you ever heard of  "Eton Mess"  ?
No? Well, it is a dessert famous in England where Eton Mess was cooked up in the school kitchens of Eton to please boys and mamas alike.  It is, in essence, broken up dry meringues, whipped cream,and berries, all melanged in a serving bowl.  Very very delicious.

I suddenly realized that Cherry Berries on a Cloud is essentially Eton Mess, with the addition of cream cheese and marshmallows to make a more sturdy cloud. It also uses prepared cherry pie filling, with cornstarch and red coloring and all. Well, we went to the store and I could not find a proper cherry pie filling , only "Light" filling with is poisonous aspartame which I will not eat.  So I bought two cans of cherries, which I'd only have to sweeten and thicken up with my own cornstarch or tapioca--not a big problem. But when I got home I looked at the Albertson's receipt and saw that we'd paid $4.69 for each of those cans of cherries. No, thanks!  Those cherries are sitting in the pantry with the receipt and will go back to Albertson's tomorrow, thank you. Imagine, paying nearly ten dollars for two cans of cherries. Not me.

I realized that with plenty of sugared fresh berries,  I really would essentially have Eton Mess except that it can be cut into squares.  Well, that's the theory. We'll find out tonight.  Then you spoon the berry mixture over the cloud. Yummo.

I was worried about baking the meringue, which has to be baked at a controlled temperature and left overnight in the oven, but when I opened the oven this morning, there was a perfect huge white drift of dry but not too dry meringue in the pyrex rectangle.  The cloud itself was shortly beaten up and mixed up (too many marshmallows fell in, but what the hey) and spread whitely over the white field of meringue. Then the whole was covered with plastic and inserted into the refrigerator to await the festal event.

I did cut the sugar in both meringue and cloud. I hope I didn't cut it too much; you have to have enough or it won't be good.  But I will take a tiny taste out of a corner (well of course I will) and if it is sweet enough, I shall add the raspberries and blackberries and a soupcon of balsamic vinegar. (That's the genius idea.)  Bland sweet meringue, bland sweet cloud, BALSAMIC  berries.  Bingo.

If you want the basic recipe, google "Cherry Berries on a Cloud," and that will take you to Betty Crocker's recipe which is as basic as you want to get.

Now I am almost ready for the book club.   And the book, you ask, did you ever read the book?  Answer: I read AT it as usual.  It did not grab me enough for a real reading. I thought he wrote copiously, but tentatively.  Needs more work, I'd suggest, if I were at the writers' workshop.  YAZZYBEL