Time for something pretty, pink and delicate. Meringue kisses! These little beauties are easy to whip up and ideal if you have just made my pandan ice-cream and are looking for something to do with all those egg whites. They also make great party favours or a replacement for a wedding cake. Meringue is also fat-free. As if you needed any other persuasion.

I have made meringues plenty of times but never with food colouring, so this was a first for me! After having seen how pretty all the Meringue Girls’ pictures are, I really wanted to give it a go. The whole process with the piping bag is a little tricky, but as long as you are patient and careful it will come out just fine. Have a browse through their instagram if you’re looking for some ideas on how to decorate your meringues. They have some awesome designs that are perfect for Halloween!

If you manage not to eat them all straight away, here are a couple of ideas on how to serve them. I like to whip up some heavy cream with a little powdered sugar and fold in some crushed meringues and fresh berries. In England we call this Eton Mess, as it is believed to have first been served at Eton College in the late 1800’s. Try it, and you’ll see why this recipe is still around today! It’s the perfect light dessert and guaranteed to please a crowd!

I also like melting some dark chocolate and dipping the bases of the meringues in it, then leaving them to set on a parchment lined baking sheet. These make the perfect afternoon pick me up. You can also crush a few meringues and serve them on top of ice cream, preferably with a healthy dose of coconut chocolate sauce too!

And if you’re feeling really fancy, go all out and make an entire rainbow of meringues!

Recipe

• Serves: 60 kisses
• Time:
  • Prep: 30 mins
  • Cook: 30 mins
  • Passive: 1 hr

    Ingredients

• 170 grams egg white about 5 large egg whites
• 340 grams white granulated sugar
• food colouring optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400f. Line a rimmed baking tray with parchment paper so it comes up the sides, and spread the sugar out on the tray.
2. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks using an electric hand whisk or a stand mixer. If your egg whites are stiff enough, you should be able to turn the bowl upside down and not end up with egg on your head!
3. Pop the baking tray with the sugar into the oven for about 5-10 minutes, until the sugar is just starting to colour around the edges of the tray.
4. Start up your whisk again on high, and a tablespoon at a time add the hot sugar to the egg whites. The mixture should be smooth if you rub it between your fingers, but don’t worry if it is a little grainy, your meringues will still turn out delicious! Turn your oven down to 200f.
5. If you want to colour your meringues, you can either fold some food colouring into the mixture for solid colour, or you can make striped meringues. To do this, turn your piping bag inside out, leaving about a centimetre so you can turn it back round again.
6. Using either a paintbrush or a pastry brush, paint stripes of food colouring onto the bag. Turn the bag the right way round, trying not to smudge the stripes, then fill with meringue. I did’t use a tip on the bag, it’s not really necessary.
7. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and pipe the meringue into little blobs, as small or large as you like.
8. Pop the baking sheets into the 200 degree oven and cook for 30 minutes, then switch off the oven. Leave the meringues in the oven for an hour, then remove and leave to cool.
9. Store meringues in an airtight container, they will last for a couple of days. Enjoy plain, or with whipped cream and berries, or dip them in melted chocolate if you’re feeling indulgent.

Notes

You can scale this recipe dependant on how many egg whites you want to use. Simply use twice as much sugar as you use egg white.

This is a great recipe to use up egg whites if you have made ice cream with the yolks!