Candy Cane Kiss Meringues Food

MERINGUE CANDY CANES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved, about 6 minutes. Beat in peppermint extract., Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry bag; insert star tip #21. With a new painbrush, brush three evenly spaced 1/4-in. strips of red food coloring on the inside of the bag from the tip to three-fourths of the way to the top of the bag. Carefully fill bag with meringue., Pipe 3-in. candy canes onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 225° for 25 minutes; rotate baking sheets to a different oven rack. Bake 25 minutes longer or until firm to the touch. Turn oven off; leave cookies in oven with door ajar for at least 1 hour or until cool.

CANDY CANE KISS MERINGUES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 175...yes 175, not a typo! :o) Line 1 large cookie sheet or 2 smaller ones with parchment paper. Place unwrapped kisses onto the cookie sheets. I got 7 rows of 5 on one cookie sheet.
• 2. Combine your room temperature eggs whites with the sugar and allow to stand 15 minutes. This will help dissolve the sugar. Add cream of tartar to the sugar mixture and beat on high until stiff peaks form. Then mix in peppermint extract.
• 3. Take a large pastry bag/icing bag and snip the tip off to leave a 1/2" opening. Take your red food color and carefully squirt a stripe down the inside of bag, (less is more) press sides together so you have 2 stripes. Fill your bag with meringue and swirl around each kiss. Starting on the bottom and swirling around to the top finishing at the top, gently pull up on pastry bag to create a nice tip.
• 4. Bake at 175 for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Then turn oven off, open oven door, leave meringues in the oven, allowing them to cool slowly. When cool, immediately remove from cookies sheets and put into an air tight container to keep them crispy.
• 5. Gel color works best for this. You can also use a small paint brush to paint a stripe on the inside of the bag.

CANDY-CANE MERINGUES

Steps:

• Beat 3 egg whites until frothy. Beat in 3/4 cup superfine sugar and a pinch each of cream of tartar and salt until stiff peaks form. Add 1 teaspoon peppermint extract and swirl in 2 drops red food coloring. Drop by tablespoonfuls and bake about 1 hour at 300 degrees. Turn off the oven and keep meringues inside for 2 hours to dry.

MERINGUE CANDY CANES

Steps:

• Whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk or in a stand mixer for 2-3 mins, or until very foamy and doubled in size. With the motor running, add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time, beating in fully before adding the next spoonful.
• When all the sugar has been incorporated, add the peppermint extract and whisk for 2-3 mins more until very thick, glossy, and holding stiff peaks.
• Fit two piping bags with 1cm round nozzles, and paint a few stripes of the food colouring gels onto the inside of the bags using a cocktail stick. (Use one colour for each bag, or alternate the colours in the bags). Heat the oven to 120C/100C fan/gas ½, and line two or three baking sheets with baking parchment.
• Divide the meringue mixture between the two piping bags and pipe roughly 10cm-long, 2cm-thick cane shapes onto the prepared sheets, leaving a gap between each. Bake for 50 mins until dry and crisp. Leave to cool on the sheets for a few minutes, then carefully loosen them from the parchment with a palette knife, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. U se the meringue canes to decorate your tree, or keep in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

PEPPERMINT MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites, vinegar and salt to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while continuing to whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold in 1/3 of the crushed candy canes, reserving the rest. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls, one inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the top.
• Bake for 90 minutes in the preheated oven, or until dry. Cool on baking sheets.