Thursday, November 25, 2010

random thoughts on giving thanks

What am I thankful for this year?  Hmmm let me count the ways.

Thank you for my family... for friends... for a wonderful life... thank you for the laughter and smiles.  Thank you also for the faith... for the hope...  and yes LOVE!

Thank you for the music (sounds like an ABBA song haha!)  that makes me dance... for movies and sitcoms... for facebook and twitter for keeping us in touch...

Thank you for the tears... for the challenges... even for death and how it brought our families together and stronger than ever before.

Thank you for another year's worth of fun through food blogging  and thank you for holidays, because it gives us the reason to indulge on blissful desserts... like this sweet indulgence of having a slice of brazo de mercedes and enjoying it bite by bite...

And finally, thank you for allowing me to share the recipe with you. Happy Thanksgiving!



Ready to take a bite?  haha!

Brazo de Mercedes
Brazo de Mercedes is actually a rolled meringue with custard filling. When you bite into it, it's fluffy and sweet... It takes you to another level when you get to taste the custard filling... so velvety that melts in your mouth...


For the meringue:

10 egg whites
1 1/4 c of sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 c of confectioner's sugar fordsting

For the filling 

1 c condensed milk
1 c evaporated milk
8 egg yolks
lemon zest (you could op to add the rind as well)

Procedure:

For the meringue

Preheat oven  to 400 degrees.  Beat the egg whites and the tartar together  until stiff.  Add the sugar gradually and the vanilla extract.  Do not overbeat   Spread the egg mixture on a large baking tray lined with parchment paper.  Bake until brown.

For the filling:

Mix all the ingredients and simmer it on a double broiler  Continue stirring until the mixture is reduced to a  thick and creamy mixture. Add the lemon zest and continue stirring.  

Spread the filling on the sheet of meringue and roll them together.  Bring it back to the oven and until the surface is slightly brown.  Sprinkle a generous amount of confectioners sugar.  Enjoy!


24 comments:

  1. Im glad you're back into blogging, and moving on. Your father will be smiling knowing that you are writing again.

    TagaTugue

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  2. YUM I love this so much! Thanks for sharing the recipe and making it sound like it's a simple thing to do.

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  3. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving filled with so much love and happiness!

    This dessert looks absolutely glorious Malou! I would love a slice.

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  4. TagaTugue: Im excited to see you back here as well... thank you for the kind words and for your support.

    anonymous: we love it too and i thought it wasn't that hard to make it.

    Joanne: i'd love to share a slice with you if you were here haha.

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  5. Wow! Brazo De Mercedes! My favorite. Thanks for posting the recipe. This one…I will try.

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  6. This looks so good Malou, and you make it look so easy!
    We missed you at our Thanksgiving dinner ... Especially when it was time to say Grace! I'm sure you had a good one as you were surrounded by those you love! Welcome back! I really enjoy reading your pieces, this is one thing I'm thankful for!

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  7. wow what an amazing dessert
    happy thanksgiving I am thankful to know you you always make me smile

    love Rebecca

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  8. danette: try to make some of these.. it will be a sure hit with your boys haha.

    cecille: we miss those gatherings too. wish FL is just around the bend. great to see you stop by... such a pleasant surprise to see you.

    rebecca: aww you are so sweet. i feel so blessed to have bumped into you.

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  9. One of the best parts of my year was getting to know you better. I love to visit here. Your cake roll looks terrific. I hope you had a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  10. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Malou. You have a beautiful family, and I'm sure it was a poignant one. Brazo de Mercedes was one of my mom's favorite desserts and often graced our Thanksgiving table :)

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  11. Happy Thanksgiving, Malou! Thank you for sharing your recipe and your life and being my blogger friend! :D

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  12. This is one of my favorite filipino desserts to make. Although I try not make it if the weather is humid, otherwise it won't look as good as the brazo in the picture.
    I'm thankful for having an amazing friend like you... one of the things I'm grateful for this thanksgiving.

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  13. Holy Cow! That is seriously the lightest, fluffiest thing I have ever laid eyes on...how gorgeous! Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful :D

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  14. Hi, Lou. Reading your blog, I can't help but sing and dance, too. So many to be thankful for, indeed. But I'm not so fond of brazo de mercedes. I am partial to chocolate cakes, hehe. But I know a friend who eats nothing but brazos. If you see him (yes, he's a guy) eat brazo, you'd be amazed at how fast a person could finish a whole roll.

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  15. that reminds me of a recipe for a dessert called 'le bras de la gitane' or "the arm of the gypsy girl"
    I would love to try this as it looks so light and delicious, albeit a bit tricky!

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  16. Mary: I feel the same way Mary... I just love dropping by at your site, and love it even more that you come and visit me all the time too!

    Liren: aww memories about your mom. :::hugs::: I thought I was the only one who brings brazo to thanksgiving haha.great to see you stop by...

    Heahter: Glad to have you back! Yes it's fluffy and sweet ahh i just love it!

    Marife: i have to post my to die for chocolate cake for you then.. but promise that you will bake it ok? haha thanks Mafe for being here...


    MaryMoh: You bring smiles when I see you. Great to see you come back... it's been awhile.

    Laura: you are a friend to keep... time and distance tried to separate us but we've withstood them...

    TOB: 'le bras de la gitane' ooh i love the name.. sounds fancy. Brazo de Mercedes means arms of Mercedes.. maybe Mercedes was a gypsy hihihi...

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  17. Remil brought this over for dinner one time..it was so light and delicious! yours look just like it!

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  18. Wow, I'm always so impressed whenever someone makes a filipino dessert from scratch--I've never tried it myself. Yours looks so perfectly light and delicious!

    Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Malou. :-)

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  19. Malou - happy thanks giving to you too. I know it was a tough year on you - am so happy to see you back blogging.

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  20. WOW! You made brazo de mercedes? So impressed!! We tried doing it one time and had a problem with rolling the meringue with the custard inside. We did it twice but it kept on breaking. Yours looks perfect! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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  21. Yum! This is one of my favorite merienda desserts! Great recipe malou!

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  22. Oh, yummo! I read your goat post -- haha. My family comes from Manila and Pangasinan, which is non-goat eating country I guess. When our filipino friends ate goat, my parents would always say, "They're Ilocano." I wouldn't eat the goat -- in my kids mind I couldn't because I wasn't Ilocano -- but later in life, I ate my Jamaican friend's goat curry. Delicious but bony.

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  23. Whats the measurement for tartar? Thank you very much!

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    1. oh i'm sorry for the mistake. i will edit the recipe right now... but the measurement of tartar is 1/2 tsp.
      thanks for bringing it up. good luck!

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