I've wanted to try making some simple meringues ever since I started following Uasis, that phenomenal meringue artist who makes piping the perfect Totoro look SO EASY.
I knew to start simple, though, so I set my sights on these:
How hard can little colorful kisses be, right?
(Those of you who saw my Stories last week, hush.)
In case you missed it, here's how it all went down:
I knew to start simple, though, so I set my sights on these:
How hard can little colorful kisses be, right?
(Those of you who saw my Stories last week, hush.)
In case you missed it, here's how it all went down:
(It turns out you need way, WAY more color in the bag - and it's probably better in a plastic bag, to keep the gel colors from drying.)
Christie colored her meringue directly, then put both pink and blue in the same bag to get the swirl.
Brace yourself...
.... Oops.
To everyone so kindly telling me they probably tasted good, at least - they really did! Although where I flavored mine with almond extract, Christie flavored hers with a generous amount of vanilla, which I liked even better. The vanilla made them taste like lightly toasted marshmallows that crunched and then melted instantly in your mouth - which is to say AMAZING.
So yeah, next time I'm going with the big ol' splash of vanilla instead.
Thankfully after this Anna took over again:
The Story version was a lot more animated; sorry you don't get to see Techno Bird dancing.
I got quite a few messages demanding more information on the Stroopwafel Liquer, so let me just say, gang, I like your priorities.
Also, I tracked it down for you:
Total Wine sells it for only $13, and I *highly* recommend grabbing a bottle. We couldn't taste it too much in the icing, but sipping it straight is a cinnamon-caramely DELIGHT.
Wow. WOW. Best dessert I've had in ages.
So do any of you make meringues? Any special flavors or add-ins I should try? Oh! Or have you tried piping cute little characters like Uasis? If so, then I'm gonna need a link to some pics, please and thanks.
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Oh, and John added the Squeegineers logo to our Threadless t-shirt shop! I'm still deciding which color I like best with it, so here's a variety. (Red also looks surprisingly good, oooh.)
So do any of you make meringues? Any special flavors or add-ins I should try? Oh! Or have you tried piping cute little characters like Uasis? If so, then I'm gonna need a link to some pics, please and thanks.
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If you love Epbot and want to help support me and my potential meringue-making habit, then you can do so with a one-time tip or a monthly donation through Paypal!
Also we're coming to the end of the month, so remember: if you've given anything at all through Paypal this month then you're automatically entered in our Squeegineers Sweepstakes, where a couple lucky winners get to choose from some cool stuff I've been hoarding in my office closet. Everyone else can enter by e-mail, so head over to the Squeegineers page for details, and be sure to get those entries in by the 29th!
I made raspberry meringues and piped them into heart outlines one year for Valentine's Day. They were made by folding some raspberry jam into the fluff, so I'm sure you could make them with any jam flavor you wanted. They were easy and delicious, and I served some with chocolate ice cream. I need to dig that recipe out again!
ReplyDeleteI found the recipe I used! Ignore the bad reviews - I had no issues when I made mine back in... 2005 or 2006! Good grief how has it been that long??
DeleteThis recipe was given to me as Lemon Meringue Cookies, but I LOVE fresh squeezed lime juice, so mine are Lime Meringue Cookies!
ReplyDelete3 egg whites, room temp
1/4 tea cream of tartar
1/2 tea salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tea lemon juice (or, in my case, 2 tea or more fresh squeezed lime juice!)
1/2 tea vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Add egg whites to bowl and beat on low til frothy. Slowly add in cream of tartar and salt, continuing to beat on med speed. Once the whites start to stiffen, start beating in the sugar, a little at a time on med speed. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, increase speed to high and beat until it's thick and glossy and forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in lemon (or lime!) juice and vanilla. Using a spatula, put mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe onto the parchment lined baking sheets. You do not have to leave much space between them as they will not spread much, if at all, during baking if you've beaten it long enough. Bake about 2 hours, until they are hard. I rotate my pans every 30 minutes . Let cool and store in an airtight container or they WILL stick together!
Peppermint meringues are my favorite, but I find that very few people like mint as much as I do, and peppermint extract can get a little overwhelming...
ReplyDeleteIf a recipe calls for a lot of extract I usually split it between vanilla and peppermint (technically making vanilla-mint meringues/marshmallows/cookies/whatever)--the vanilla keeps the peppermint extract from tasting like toothpaste. ;)
Thanks for that tip about the vanilla, I like mint, but do get the toothpaste taste with some things I've tried!
DeleteI like the way your meringues turned out. They look like little gnome or sorting hats.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is determined to make good meringues as he wants them for hot cocoa. I'll have to get him to try a few new things. His last ones were good, just not quite there yet.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Cupcake Jemma! Here's her recipe for Circus Rainbow Marshmallow Meringues - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdF9qADp2ms. On her YouTube channel she has a whole playlist on rainbow baking.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/user/CupcakeJemma
Circus Rainbow Marshmallow Meringues
DeleteCupecake Jemma's Channel
I think sometimes white coloring is added to get a brighter white when cooked.
ReplyDeleteI did notice the white turns a bit grimey after baking - I think I'll color the meringue like Christie did when I try them again!
DeleteI make pavlovas, most recently a triple chocolate swirled 2-layer pavlova cake filled with vanilla cream and topped with Chombord macaerated fresh berries and shaved dark chocolate. OMG
ReplyDeleteSweet Stay Puft, I want to eat that.
DeleteIt was easy to make...the pavlova in the center was just like a fudgy brownie.
DeleteI have used strawberry extract in both meringues and pavlovas it taste great.
ReplyDeletewhen you make your meringue cookies put down a small disc, put a kiss on top then cover it with meringue, bake. yum.
ReplyDeleteOOOOOOOOOOOH that sounds amazing!
DeleteAny dark chocolate is great- I like the mini chocolate chips mixed in.
DeleteI've never made (or had) meringues, but they look complicated! I did recently make macarons for the first time (for the Great FOE Bake-Off), and they turned out great. I was so proud!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, if you can make macarons then you've already mastered meringues; they're just whipped egg whites with sugar & a little cream of tartar! I think the hardest part is figuring out how long to bake them.
DeleteThe color striping doesn't work great in plastic bags either. The color beads up and sort of pulls into itself, so you end up with a trickle of color instead of a stripe. I've had the best (not great) luck with a standard piping bag. Alternatively, you can get a fancy connector thing now that lets you put three bags to one piping tip. That way you could have three percolored batches piped together.
ReplyDeleteAha, good to know! I did notice that when Uasis put all the color in her plastic bag it all ran together - plus she had to add SO MUCH color, I can't help but wonder if it affected the taste.
DeleteI love chocolate meringues! I use a recipe from Rose Berenbaum's Christmas Cookies book. I had some leftover egg whites last Christmas and made some with a pinch of cinnamon... so delicious! They tasted like Mexican hot chocolate.
ReplyDeleteI also like to make meringue piped into little cups and then fill them with fruit curd. Then you're using up the egg yolks, so no waste! It works best with tart curds, like lemon or passion fruit.
Cinnamon and chocolate? Genius. I need to try all these different flavors! And this shows what a baking newb I am: there's egg yolk in fruit curd? I had no idea!
DeleteMeringues! I love to pipe them directly on top a rolo. Sounds weird, but it was amazing. Also maple flavored, coffee flavored, and coconut flavors worked well
ReplyDeleteoh dear heavens..... on a rolo..... YUM
DeleteSounds like it should be a controled substance!
DeleteThis is how I learned: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-french-meringue-224412 (I was a complete baking newbie at the time, too!)
ReplyDeleteMy tip: Run freeze-dried fruit through the food processor or blender, then fold the powder into the meringue batter before you pipe it. They may need to bake a little longer to fully dry out, but the flavor is amazing!
Mom always put dark chocolate chips in plain vanilla meringue. Simple but dramatic color contrast of the white meringue and dark dots.
ReplyDeleteMint chocolate chip meringues, mint flavored with chocolate chips in them
ReplyDeleteI’ve been making them for years around Christmas time. I always use mint extract. Soooo yummy!
ReplyDeleteI made mint meringues, then dipped the bottoms in melted dark chocolate and then in crushed candy canes.... they were so good!
ReplyDeleteI should make meringues to send to my daughter at school... much lighter to mail than cookies! 🤣
I love meringue cookies because they're super easy to make and a total blank slate flavor-wise.
ReplyDeleterum + nutmeg = eggnog
vanilla + orange extract = creamsicle
creme de menthe + mini chocolate chips = mint chocolate chip
I also like them with orange flower water.
If you bake them at a lower temperature (obviously, for longer), you get less browning. (some recipes have you heat the oven to a fairly low temp, then put the meringues in and turn the oven off, leaving them overnight, for example; you can get *really* white meringues that way, although not all sugar-to-egg-white proportions tolerate that.)
ReplyDeleteBut yes, to get *that* saturated of a color on the outside, you'd have to use a whole lot of gel color. (possibly enough to taste, but I'm not sure - it ends up being a very thin layer on the outside of the meringue, kind of like the brightness of the candy shell on an M&M, rather than like grocery store Cookie Monster Blue frosting that is "flavorfully" drowned in food coloring all the way through.)
Another use for Stroopwaffl liqueur: added to cream, then whipped, and then topping coffee. It is really divine. One can skip the whipping or cream, but they balance with the sweet and coffee beautifully.
ReplyDeleteIf you've never made meringues with orange and chocolate, you haven't lived! I am obsessed with oranges, and adding orange extract is an amazing way to make some very flavorful meringues. Usually I'll dip them in chocolate ganache or syrup after I've baked them. . . because everything is better with chocolate.
ReplyDeleteJen! You bravely tried making meringues! Good on ya! Congrats! So they don't match your aspiration. Nbd. Recommend you cut yourself some slack. Not many pros make anything perfect on their very first attempt. :) I've never tried, but is it possible to divide and color the meringue before loading separate piping bags, which then get added to a larger bag with both or all colors to be carefully squished into multicolor perfection? Just a thought, in case you are brave enough to attempt the challenge yet a second time. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the sentimental Princess Bride references. Not many places on the interwebs purposefully include such sweet content. Keep up the great work, and rest easy in the knowledge that I have to sleep now with Wallace Shawn's voice in my head shouting 'Inconceiveable!'.
I'm super late to the party, but feel like you need to know about the joy of an Eton Mess - a great big pile of meringues, strawberries, cream and strawberry coulis. The best part is, your meringues can look terrible and it doesn't matter, because you break them up into big pieces and no one can tell :) Eton Mess recipe
ReplyDeleteThese look so good! I haven't had meringues in forever...
ReplyDelete