I was inspired by the Harmonicblend song, Auf Wiedersehen, which is German for “goodbye”, when it was coming up with this concept. I wanted to do a pun off of that, using oeuf, the French word for egg, and that’s when I decided that I needed to do a snow egg, or a poached meringue. Wiedersehen on its own means to come together, or to meet again, so I wanted the entire dessert to really connect through having the same ingredients featured in a few different ways.

My snow egg is stuffed with a gewurztraminer custard, with gewurztraminer being a German white wine that tastes like lychee. I also paired the dessert with black currants, because those are also popular in German-Austrian cuisine, since the entire dessert is taking French technique and German culture and merging the two together. For the dessert, we have black currant pastels, poached meringue, gewurztraminer custard center, black currant-gewurztraminer veil, meringue crisps, and black currant curd.

For the custard:
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup gewurztraminer
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon milk powder
1/4 teaspoon xantham gum

Combine egg yolks, sugar, and xantham gum. Heat up the gewurztraminer with cream. Temper together and whisk on high heat for 3 minutes. Finish with the milk powder and strain. Pour into 1 inch silicone half-dome molds and freeze solid.

For the poached meringues:
2 egg whites
1/3 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of cream of tartar
a pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon gewurztraminer

Whip ingredients to stiff peaks. Pipe the meringue into 3 inch silicone half-dome molds, and place those into a waterbath. Bake at 200 degrees F for 15 minutes. Unmold and place onto an oiled parchment sheet. Scoop out the centers and press the custards into the centers. Press halves together to form the egg.

For the veil:
1/4 cup black currant puree
1/3 cup gewurztraminer
3 tablespoons agar agar
a pinch of salt

Cook off the alcohol in the gewurztraminer. Add in the agar agar, salt, and puree and melt together. Pour onto a sheet tray and freeze until solid.

For the curd:
1/2 cup black currant puree
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons coconut oil

Combine ingredients, sans oil, and bring to a simmer. Take off heat, finish with the coconut oil, and strain.

For the pastels:
1/4 cup black currant puree
2 tablespoons agar agar
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
a pinch of salt

Melt down ingredients together. Pour into a small sheet tray and allow to solidify. Cut into small circles.

For the meringue shards:
1 egg white
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon gewurztraminer

Whip ingredients to stiff peaks. Spread onto a parchment sheet and bake at 140 degrees F for 1 hour.

For assembly:
Start with a swipe of the curd, followed by the pastels. Place on the egg, and garnish with the veil and the shards.