Orange And Chocolate Meringue Kisses Food

MERINGUE KISSES & ICICLES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas ½. Line two-three baking sheets with parchment. Beat the egg whites until they are foamy and doubled in size. Add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, while you continue to whisk. The meringue will become thick and glossy and should hold up in stiff peaks on the beaters when it is ready.
• For the meringue kisses, fit a disposable piping bag with a 1cm round or star nozzle. Hold it vertically to the baking sheet and gently squeeze, pulling the bag up and away to make a peak. If you are making frosty icicles, make some meringue dots as well.
• For colour-striped meringues, fit a disposable piping bag with a round nozzle, paint red food colouring paste in stripes onto the inside of the bag, then fill with meringue and pipe as before. Bake for 1 hr. Once cool, you can drizzle some of the meringues with melted chocolate and sprinkle with edible glitter or lustre powder, if you like.
• For the icicles and snowflakes, scoop the meringue into a disposable piping bag and snip off a tiny opening. Pipe spiky icicle shapes onto the trays, making them thicker one end and thin at the other. Pipe crossed lines to make snowflakes.
• Bake for 50 mins, then leave to cool on the tray for a few mins, then carefully loosen them off the parchment. Sprinkle with edible glitter or lustre powder, if you like. If left to cool completely, they may stick and break when you try to lift them off. If you are storing these, leave to cool completely, then layer in an airtight container between pieces of baking parchment. Now use the meringue kisses to make our white chocolate, orange & cranberry Christmas cake.

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Grease three cookies sheets and dust with cocoa powder.
• Melt the chocolate square and set aside to cool.
• Beat the egg whites with salt until soft peaks form.
• Add sugar slowly and beat until mixture very stiff and shiny.
• Fold in vanilla, melted chocolate, and the 1 tbsp cocoa powder.
• Drop by heaping teaspoonfulls (2 inches apart) onto prepared cookie sheets.
• They will have the shape of chocolate kisses.
• Bake 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove cookies from sheets immediately.
• Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

MERINGUE KISSES (ALMOND/ORANGE/STRAWBERRY/MINT/COCOA VARIATIONS)

Steps:

• Preheat over to 225 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar with cornstarch and reserve. In a medium bowl, with electric mixer on high speed beat together egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Reduce mixer speed to medium and gradually beat in reserved sugar-cornstarch mixture until incorporated. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Increase mixer speed to high and beat for five minutes, scraping down sides of bowl several times, until stiff and glossy peaks form. If using a pastry bag, fill with mixutre otherwise drop little rounded mounds of meringue with a tablespoon spacing 1/2 inch apart.
• For crisp meringues, bake in preheated oven until firm to the touch and crisp throughout, about 1 1/2 hours, turning baking sheet once from front to back halfway through baking. For chewier meringues, bake about 1 1/4 hours, rotating sheet once halfway through baking.
• Cool meringues slightly on baking sheet on wire rack. Transfer meringues to wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
• ORANGE KISSES:.
• Follow directions, substituting one teaspoon orange extract for vanilla and almond extracts and adding 12 drops orange food coloring.
• STRAWBERRY KISSES:.
• Follow directions, substituting 1 1/2 teaspoons strawberry extract for vanilla and almond extracts and adding 12 drops red food coloring.
• MINT KISSES:.
• Follow directions, substituting 1/4 teaspoon mint extract for vanilla and almond extract and adding 12 drops green food coloring.
• COCOA KISSES:.
• Follow directions, substituting 1 1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract for vanilla and almond extracts. After beating egg white mixture, sift 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder over mixture and fold it gently in until thoroughly blended.

LIGHTEST EVER MERINGUES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment and set up a piping bag with a medium-size star nozzle.
• In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until very stiff - the whites should stand in stiff, not floppy, peaks when the beaters are lifted out. Once you have reached this point, pour in roughly half the sugar and the vanilla extract and whisk again until the mixture becomes very thick, firm and shiny. Add the remaining sugar and whisk again until thick, firm and shiny. If you like meringues with soft, mallowy centres, just add 1 tsp cornflour and 1 tsp white wine vinegar to the mix along with the sugar.
• Carefully spoon the meringue into the piping bag. Push any air out of the top and tightly twist the end of the piping bag to seal. Gently squeeze until meringue is visible at the end of the nozzle, then begin piping onto your lined baking sheets. Pipe spiralling circles, about 6cm wide and 3 layers high - like you would ice a cupcake to make roughly 18. The meringues will spread slightly as they cook, so leave enough space between each one. Bake in the oven for 1 hr, turning the heat down to 120C/100C fan/gas ½ after 30 mins.
• Remove from the oven - they should peel easily away from the parchment - and cool on a wire rack. Can be made up to a week ahead and kept in an airtight container, or frozen for up to 3 months, between layers of parchment, in an airtight container.
• To make Cream & chocolate meringues for dessert, put 100g dark chocolate in a glass bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water. Carefully dip the base of each meringue in to coat, then place on their sides on a plate or tray to set. While the chocolate sets, whip 300ml double cream. Assemble the meringues in pairs and sandwich their chocolate bases together with a good spoonful of cream. Delicious served with ice cream, raspberry coulis or fresh berries.

MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Beat egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle with cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and vanilla, beating until stiff peaks form, about 5-8 minutes. If desired, divide batter in half and fold in red and green food coloring. , Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 1-1/2-in. apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie and cover it with meringue, using a knife. , Bake at 275° for 30-35 minutes or until firm to the touch. Immediately remove to a wire rack to cool. If desired, sprinkle with cocoa. Store in an airtight container.

MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment. In a small bowl, mix both sugars together. In another small bowl, mix the jam with enough food colouring to create a vibrant red colour.
• In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, using electric beaters or a tabletop mixer. Add about a third of the sugar, whipping for 1 min or so, until stiff and glossy. Gradually add the remaining sugar until you have a glossy meringue that holds stiff peaks.
• Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/ gas 1/2. Turn your pastry bag inside out and, using a spoon, paint three lines of coloured jam from the top to almost the end of the bag. Fill with the meringue mix and twist the end to close.
• Holding the bag vertically over the tray, apply enough pressure to create a base, then quickly draw the bag upwards to create little points. The jam will give the meringues a stripy pattern as they pass through the bag.
• Bake in the oven for 1 hr or until the meringues sound hollow when you lift one and tap the base - they should have a crunchy shell and not be too chewy. Leave to cool in the oven with the door closed, then store in a plastic food bag or airtight container until ready to use.