Meringue Boxes with Sorbet

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Use a pencil to trace six 3-inch squares and twelve 2-inch-by-3-inch rectangles on a piece of parchment paper, and place, pencil side down, on baking sheet.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the meringue for later use. Fill a piping bag fitted with a coupler, with a tip of your choice, and pipe out the meringue in desired patterns. The piped lines or designs should connect, but you want to leave plenty of open spaces in between the piping. Cover the remaining meringue with plastic, and set aside.

Bake piped meringue 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 175 degrees, and bake an additional 35 minutes or longer, until the meringue is dried but still white.

Return the remaining meringue to electric mixer, and rewhip until light, fluffy, and glossy. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue and a plain tip. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, assemble the boxes by piping the meringue along edges of bottom square and piping meringue between side rectangles. Change the tips, and pipe out a decorative pattern on the outside joints to hide your work. Do not attach the top of box.

Return the baking sheet to the oven, and bake until the second piping of meringue is hard and dry, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool completely.

Scoop the sorbet into each box, and serve with top to the side or placed over sorbet.