Meringue Cones Food

MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer); beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium high; beat in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, then add the extract or zest. Continue beating until the meringue is thick, glossy and holds stiff peaks, about 6 minutes.
• For colored cookies, swirl a few drops of food coloring into the meringue or use a small paintbrush to paint 3 long stripes of food coloring up the inside of a pastry bag. For chocolate chip versions, gently fold the mini chocolate chips into the mixture.
• Drop or pipe the meringue as desired, about 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired. Bake 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let the meringues stand in the oven until dry, about 2 hours. Top with or dip in melted chocolate and sprinkle with nonpareils.

MERINGUE BONES

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until white and foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar until thick and glossy, about 5 minutes, then beat in the vanilla.
• Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch round tip. Pipe 3-inch bones onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the meringues are dry and crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely on the baking sheets.
• Carefully loosen the meringue bones from the parchment paper and sandwich with a thin layer of jam. Spread or pipe a thin layer of jam on the flat side of a meringue; sandwich with another meringue. Repeat with the remaining meringues.

GOOD MERINGUE

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms stiff peaks.

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 CONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°F In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add the salt and cream of tartar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Slowly beat in the sugar, turn beater to high, and continue to beat until the mixture is thick and shiny, about 2 minutes.
• Butter and flour a large cookie sheet. Create the shells by placing 1/2 cup of meringue, in a mound, on the cookie sheet. Using a wet spoon, make a depression in the center about 4 inches wide (big enough to hold a large scoop of ice cream). Take care to leave at least 1/4 inch of meringue on the bottom.
• The meringue shells will not spread, so place them close together and fit as many as you can on the cookie sheet. Bake for 2 hours. Turn off the oven, open its door. Allow the meringues to sit in the oven until cool. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
• ***Variations***.
• CHOCOLATE CHIP MERINGUES - Mix 3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips into the meringue just before creating mounds. Proceed with the recipe as directed.
• CINNAMON MERINGUES - Add 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon along with the sugar. Proceed with the recipe as directed.

ULTIMATE MERINGUE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 110C/ 100C fan/gas ¼.
• Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick liner or parchment paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).
• Tip 4 large egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.
• Now turn the speed up and start to add 115g caster sugar, a dessertspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It's important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later. However, don't over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy.
• Sift one third of the 115g icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don't over-mix. The mixture should now look smooth and billowy.
• Scoop up a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture. Using another dessertspoon, ease it on to the baking sheet to make an oval shape. Or just drop them in rough rounds, if you prefer.
• Bake for 1 ½-1 ¾ hours in a fan oven, 1 ¼ hours in a conventional or gas oven, until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour.
• Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.) Serve two meringues sandwiched together with a generous dollop of softly whipped double cream.

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.