You can’t help but feel affectionate towards meringue kisses; they’re crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. They’re so easy to make and add a bit of drama to any dessert.
Meringue Girls have a simple and easy to follow recipe.
Ingredients:
300g caster sugar
150g free range egg whites
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 200°c. Line a small baking tray with baking parchment, pour in the caster sugar and heat it in the oven for 7 minutes.
- Pour the egg whites into a mixer and whisk them slowly, allowing small stabilising bubbles to form, then increase the speed until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
- Take the sugar out of the oven, and turn oven down to 100°c. With your mixer on full speed, very slowly spoon the hot sugar into the beaten egg whites, making sure the mixture comes back up to stiff peaks after each addition of sugar. Once you have added all the sugar, continue to whisk on full speed until you have a smooth, stiff and glossy mixture. You should continue to whisk for at least 5 minutes once sugar has incorporated. Feel a bit of the mixture between your fingers; if you can still feel the gritty sugar, keep whisking at full speed until it has dissolved and the mixture is smooth, stiff and glossy.
To make meringue kisses, spoon your meringue into a disposable piping bag and cut the tip off (about a 50 pence size hole). Pipe out your kisses by keeping the bag tight, straight and directly above your baking tray. Squeeze from a 2cm height from the baking tray and then let go before pulling up to form the lovely peaks.
Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the meringue bases come off the parchment paper clean.
My meringue kisses were added to a simple strawberry cheesecake.
