I hear the angels call my name

[venta]

I have two problems. Well, I have many. But there are two of a culinary nature, on which I hope some kitchenly types might offer advice.

1. Owing to the choux wreath  I have an imperial shitload of leftover eggwhites.
2. I am going to a neighbour for dinner tomorrow[*] and am requested to bring a pudding.

I feel the obvious answer at this point is "pavlova". However it (and any other meringue-based option) feels inherently summery to me. Too summery to be appropriate in fog-bound London in January. I'm sure I could buy strawberries and raspberries, but they'll be air-freighted in from Far Away, and probably won't be that great anyway.

What I do have, though, is some dark chocolate with ginger, and a lot of windfall cooking apples. So my current plan is: pavlova base, layer of chocolate (and ginger) ganache, layer of apple slices (baked with cinnamon and such), whipped cream on the top.

I might put something like the syrup from crystallized ginger in the whipped cream. And ideally I'd like something to make the whole thing look less "white".

So, questions:
1. Does this sound like a terrible idea?
2. Will ganache make meringue soggy?
3. Will whipping cream with syrup work, or will the syrup be too heavy?
4. Any ideas on the whiteness front? Maybe I should whip the cream with Winter Spiced Ribena...
5. Any ideas of anything completely different I could do with six egg whites? (Needs to be cooked and carried next door, so not something you'd eat straight after cooking.)

[*] Yeah, a neighbour. Not a friend who lives nearby, an actual neighbour whom I have only met as a result of the geographical proximity in our dwellings. Yeah, in London. No, I didn't think that was allowed either.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

As noted above, I was a bit wary of trying something I'd never made before when I was going to make people I don't know well eat it. I did really like the chocolate meringue roulade idea, though, and was nearly won over to it until I realised I didn't have a swiss roll tin of the right dimensions.

I looked around and found some recipes that made a smaller quantity - that would fit a tin I did have - but the recipes were all so very different that I got scared. Especially since making something pliable enough to roll up neatly seemed like something that could go really quite wrong!

I should definitely experiment with roulades, though. I'll get back to you :)