RASPBERRY MERINGUE ICE POPS

Italian meringue is a cooked meringue with a thick, silky texture. It is often used as a base for European-style sorbets, but here it is used in sweet and smooth ice pops.

You can replace the frozen raspberries with 625 ml (2 1/2 cups) fresh berries. Place in a saucepan over medium heat with 30 ml (2 tbsp) water and 15 ml (1 tbsp) granulated sugar. Cook until berries are soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. 2 egg whites Pinch cream of tartar 150 ml (2/3 cup) granulated sugar 50 ml (1/4 cup) water 500 ml (2 cups) thawed frozen raspberries In a large bowl, using electric mixer at high speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff but not dry. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over high heat, cook sugar and water until it reaches the large-ball (hard-ball) stage: 121 to 124 C (250 to 255 F) on a candy thermometer or when it forms a hard ball when a little is dropped from a spoon into cold water. Beating constantly, pour syrup in a thin stream into reserved egg whites. Beat at low speed until meringue is cool, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.

Place sieve over a large measuring cup and strain raspberries, pressing down and scraping solids with a rubber spatula to extract as much pulp and juice as possible. Discard solids. Fold in meringue until thoroughly combined.

Pour into moulds and freeze until slushy, then insert sticks and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours. If you are using an ice pop kit, follow manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 650 ml (2 2/3 cups), 8 to 10 ice pops.