recipe

Meringues. Yum.

Last night I was part of a meeting of over 80 people. I was part of the leadership for that meeting and art of my responsibilities also included making part of the refreshments. We wanted "light" cookies that would compliment sherbet. I chose meringues.

The photo shows these much darker than they were in actuality, but in all honesty they were cream coloured and should have been snow white. It didn't matter in the taste, they were a hit, fabulous, yummy and yes, light!

Preheat oven to 200.

2 egg whites. Beat until stiff.
Add 1/2 cup ultra fine sugar, beat in.

Line a cookie tin with parchment paper. (I used a silpat, didn't work...use the paper)

Put the egg fluff in a pastry bag fitted with a tip. For the flowers I used a large writing tip, for the "onion heads" I used a LARGE flower tip.

Squish out your cookie onto the paper, place the tin in the oven and set your timer. For the flowers I set 15 minutes, for the "onion heads" I set 30. The cookies are done when they are still white (blushing from embarrassment), set, and n their way to being dry.

Now, if you pull them out too soon they can be spongy and marshmallow-y, but in all fact they can be that way when they are done also. Timing is the only tricky thing here. If they are really done, they will have a slight bounce to the touch, white and will finish drying as they cool. Hence the confusion and creamy colour of my cookies.

Carefully pull them off the cookie sheet and let them cool on the paper on a rack or the counter. You will hear them release from the paper with a snap or crackle whisper. If they stick anyway, just peel the paper from them rather than pulling the cookie off the paper...they tend to break if you have fragile cookies. The "onion heads" just pop right off either way.

You can add colouring prior to cooking, or sprinkle and sugar afterward. Use diluted karo or egg white as glue if you need to.

There you go. Enjoy.