Tropical Napoleons

By norsegal8

The napoleon, a tall dessert named for a short general, was made traditionally with puff pastry and is now made regularly with phyllo. Here, it is given the lightest treatment yet, wafer-thin rounds of meringue. The meringue is a plain one, beaten a little softer than the norm, and then stabilized and taste-boosted with flaked coconut and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. The technique for achieving paper-thinness with the meringue is interesting and easily done. The meringue is spread across a homemade template the way you might skim-coat a wall with plaster. Once the wafers are cool, they're stacked between layers of rummy whipped cream, and slices of soft, colorful tropical fruits. Depending on how thin you spread the meringue, you may end up with extra wafers - they are great with coffee.

Ingredients

• THE WAFERS
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• THE CREAM
• 1 cup cold heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 1/4 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons sifted powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (approximately) assorted fresh berries and small slices of tropical fruit, such as mango, papaya or kiwi for layering
• powdered sugar, for dusting

Preparation

Step 1

THE WAFERS
Position the oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325°F. You'll probably have to bake the meringues in two batches, so butter and flour three baking sheets or jelly-roll pans and line a fourth sheet or tray with parchment paper; it will be the holding tray for the baked meringues.
Prepare a template by cutting a ring out of the plastic top of a large container of yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream or the like. Cut away the rim so that the top lies flat. Draw a 4-inch circle in the center and cut that away. (If you can only make a 3 1/2-inch ring, it will be fine.)
Put the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat the whites at high speed for about 3 minutes, until they hold medium-soft peaks. With the mixer running, gradually add three-quarters of the sugar and continue to beat for another 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently but thoroughly fold in 1/2 cup of the coconut with a rubber spatula.

FORMING THE MERINGUES
Place the template flat against a buttered and floured baking sheet, and spoon a heaping tablespoon of meringue into the center of the ring. Using a flexible metal spatula, preferably an offset one, spread the meringue to the edge of the template to form a thin circle of batter. Lift the template and continue making circles, spacing them fairly close together, since the meringue won't spread during baking. You should be able to get 6 to 8 wafers on each sheet. Sprinkle the circles with the remaining coconut and the sesame seeds.

BAKING THE MERINGUES
Bake the meringues for 5 to 7 minutes, checking them at the 4-minute mark and then every minute thereafter - these bake (and then burn) quickly - and removing them from the baking sheets just as they start to color. The easiest way to get the wafers off the sheet is to put the baking sheet on the opened door (the heat from the oven will keep the circles supple) and slip a wide metal spatula or pancake turner under each wafer, pushing the spatula against the baking sheet, not the wafer so that the wafer stays flat. Transfer the wafers to the parchment-lined baking sheet to cool. Because the meringues are so thin, they cool quickly, and you can stack them on the baking sheet between layers of parchment. The wafers can be made ahead and wrapped airtight - take care, they are extremely fragile - and kept at room tempertature for a day or two.

THE CREAM
Working in a chilled bowl with a chilled whisk, whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Add the rum and vanilla and beat until the peaks are firm. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the powdered sugar. Keep the cream covered and chilled until needed.

FINISHING THE NAPOLEONS
Spoon the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip; or, if you want, you can use a small spoon to spread the cream over the wafers. Pipe a drop or two of whipped cream in the center of each of six to eight dessert plates to act as glue for the napoleons. Construct each napoleon by wiggling a wafer into the cream to settle it, piping or spooning on a puff of whipped cream, arranging a few berries or fruit slices over the cream, and topping with another wafer, more cream and more fruit and a final wafer. Dust each dessert with a little powdered sugar and serve immediately.