Peppermint Meringue Lollipops Food

PEPPERMINT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. While beating, add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in the peppermint.
• Fold the top of a pastry bag fitted with a round tip over and down a few inches. Dip a paintbrush in the food coloring. Starting inside the pastry tip, brush a stroke of food coloring from the tip to the top of the bag. Repeat with 3 more evenly spaced strokes. Fill the bag with the meringue; try to spoon it directly into the center so as not to smudge the food coloring (though some smudging is inevitable). Pipe 1-inch-diameter mounds of meringue spaced 1 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake until the meringues are no longer glossy and feel light and dry when picked up, about 1 hour. Open the oven for a few minutes, then turn it off and shut the door. Leave the meringues in the oven until they are completely dry inside, about 2 hours. The meringues can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

MERINGUE LOLLIPOPS

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, cream of tartar and salt in a large clean dry bowl with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until thick and opaque, about 1 more minute. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, and beat until stiff shiny peaks form, about 5 more minutes.
• Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe twenty-four 2 1/2-inch disks on the baking sheets, leaving space between each. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and/or silver nonpareils; bake at 250 degrees F until dry and crisp, 3 to 4 hours. Let cool completely on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container in a dry place for up to 1 week.
• For the filling, combine the white chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Sandwich some white chocolate mixture and a lollipop stick between 2 cookies; repeat to make 12 lollipops. Let set.

PEPPERMINT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with foil.
• In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until whites form stiff peaks. Drop by spoonfuls 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy over the cookies.
• Bake for 1 1/2 hours in preheated oven. Meringues should be completely dry on the inside. Do not allow them to brown. Turn off oven. Keep oven door ajar, and let meringues sit in the oven until completely cool. Loosen from foil with metal spatula. Store loosely covered in cool dry place for up to 2 months.

PEPPERMINT LOLLIPOPS

Steps:

• Put the sugar and cream of tartar into a saucepan with 200ml hot water. Gently heat until the sugar has completely melted, then increase the heat and boil until the mixture reaches the 'hard crack' stage on a sugar thermometer (or a small spoonful dropped into cold water sets hard). Remove from heat immediately and swirl in peppermint essence and enough green colouring to give a pale green colour - start by adding just one drop at a time.
• Cover a heatproof surface with baking parchment. Using a metal spoon, carefully pour some peppermint syrup onto the paper - roughly ½-1 tbsp per lolly. Push a lolly stick into each. If the syrup becomes too thick, just put the pan back over a gentle heat briefly. But if the syrup is too hot and runny, the shapes won't be as even so set it aside for a minute. Set lollies until hard.
• To clean equipment after lollipop making drop everything back into the pan, fill with water and bring to the boil.

PEPPERMINT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250˚ F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the egg whites and salt in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar and cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Add the peppermint extract and beat 2 more minutes.
• Using a small pastry brush, paint four 1/4-inch-wide stripes of red gel food coloring inside a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. Fill with the meringue.
• Pipe 2-inch spirals about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. Bake the meringues 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let them dry in the oven, about 2 more hours.

POTATO CANDY

Steps:

• Mix together potatoes, butter or margarine, and milk. Add enough confectioners' sugar to make a stiff dough.
• Roll out on a flat surface sprinkled with powdered sugar. Spread on a layer of peanut butter and roll up. Chill and slice.