Meringue Bones And Ghosts Food

MERINGUE BONES AND GHOSTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
• Whisk eggs whites and lemon juice together in a bowl until thick, white, and foamy. Add sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking constantly, until meringue is shiny, thick, and holds its shape.
• Transfer meringue to a piping bag. Pipe 12 bone shapes onto a prepared baking sheet. Pipe 12 puffs to resemble ghosts onto the remaining baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until dried and firm, about 1 hour. Turn off the oven, close the door, and cool until completely dried, about 1 hour more.
• Dip the tip of a toothpick into melted chocolate and dot chocolate "eyes" on each of the ghosts.

SWEET BONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Put egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture feels warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.
• Return bowl to mixer, and fit mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until very stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes.
• Transfer meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, such as a Wilton #1A. Pipe bone shapes, each 5 to 6 inches long, onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Make meringue bones using one continuous motion: Begin by piping a horizontal S shape at top. Continue piping meringue downward in a straight line to form the middle of the bone. Finish by making another horizontal S shape at the bottom. Repeat until all of the meringue is used up.
• Bake until crisp throughout, about 1 hour. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

MERINGUE BONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil and grease the foil.
• Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt in a bowl with an electric mixer until egg whites are foamy. Gradually beat in sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, beating until the sugar dissolves in the meringue before adding more. Continue beating until the meringue is glossy and forms a sharp peak when beaters are lifted straight up out of the bowl; beat in vanilla extract. Spoon the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a small tip.
• Pipe meringue into small bone shapes on the prepared aluminum foil. You must pipe all the shapes at once or the meringue will deflate.
• Place cookie sheets into the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour. No not open oven door or peek during baking. Turn the oven off and let the meringue bones cool in the oven without opening door for 1 hour. Gently and carefully remove cookies from aluminum to prevent broken bones.

MERINGUE GHOSTS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the sugar in a small roasting tray lined with baking parchment. Shake to level out the sugar and heat in the oven for about 5 mins until hot but not melting. This helps stabilise the egg whites and give a smooth and glossy meringue.
• Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar using an electric mixer. Whisk slowly at first, gradually increasing the speed until the egg whites are at the stiff peak stage, about 5 mins. It's important not to over-whisk the egg whites. Remove the sugar from the oven as soon as the eggs whites are stiff.
• Reduce the oven to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼, leaving the door ajar to help it cool down quickly - the meringues need to be baked at a lower temperature.
• Turn the mixer up to full speed and start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. You want the egg whites to maintain their volume as you keep adding sugar - if you see it starting to collapse, stop adding sugar and allow the mixture to stiffen and rise before adding the rest, a spoonful at a time.
• Once all the sugar has been added, keep whisking until you have a stiff and glossy mixture. It's ready to use when it holds its shape, usually about 2-5 mins after you add the last of the sugar. You should also be able to see peaks in the mixture when you remove and upturn the whisk.
• Add the pumpkin spice flavouring to your meringue if using, and gently fold it through the mixture. Do this by hand rather than in the mixer.
• Spoon your flavoured meringue into piping bags - one batch should fill two bags - shaking the mixture down to the bottom of the bag. Try to get rid of any big air bubbles you can see at this stage, but don't be too rough with the mixture.
• Cut parchment to the size of your baking trays. Cut off the bottom inch of the piping bag (about a 50p sized hole) and squeeze small dollops on to the corner of your baking trays to stick the parchment down.
• Hold the piping bag with both hands, placing one hand at the top of the bag and your other hand halfway down the bag. Hold the bag steady, about 2cm above the tray, and squeeze the bag from the top to start forming the body of your ghost. Keep the bag completely still while squeezing, using your lower hand to keep the bag steady.
• Stop squeezing once the meringue hits the tray. Lift the piping bag a tiny amount, without creating a break between the meringue on the tray and the meringue left in the piping bag. Drop the bag back down again and squeeze gently to form the top part of the ghost's body. Lift the piping bag straight up to leave a peak on the top of your ghosts' heads. This will take a bit of practice so don't worry if you don't get it right the first time, just keep going and get a feel for it! Repeat until you have piped all of your mixture - be sure to work quickly as your mixture will loosen over time. Find our tips for piping perfection below.
• Bake for about 40-50 mins until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Leave to cool completely on the baking trays. Once cooled, draw two big, droopy eyes and an open mouth. If you don't have an edible pen, you can gently melt 50g dark chocolate in a microwave and use a small paint brush to paint on the faces. Will keep for up to two weeks in a loosely covered container.