Meringues 1944 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.

MERINGUES 1944

Steps:

• Preheat oven 250 F, and line cookie sheet with parchment paper
• Set aside 1/3 of the sugar and thoroughly mix it with the baking powder
• Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form (easiest with a stand mixer but hand mixer will do)
• Gradually, 1 Tbsp at a time, sprinkle the sugar in as you continue beating
• Continue beating and now sprinkle the sugar / baking powder mixture -- again done gradually, one Tbsp at a time
• Lastly add the vanilla gently as you continue beating
• When you put a small amount of the whipped eggs between your fingers and it no longer feels gritty from the sugar, you are done whipping.
• Using two spoons, place your mounds on the parchment paper about 1 1/2 inches apart. You can also pipe them if you have the tools.
• Bake on parchment paper in 250 F oven for 30 minutes or just until slightly browned (not much -- you don't really want them to be brown very much, they should be mostly white) Mom's recipe also says you can do this in a 300 degree oven for the same amount of time, too... but I don't know what that will do to them.
• Serve, as is, or with a little fresh fruit.

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.