The Ultimate Meringues

I miss baking.


I know there are many mug cake recipes but those of you who have been following me on twitter may have noticed a few problems I have encountered with them. So I was looking longingly at the baking back-log on my computer and found these meringues. I must apologize now, because I know the photos aren't great and do not to their deliciousness justice. These are crispy on the outside but soft and chewy in the middle, perfection. But best of all they are so so easy.


I made these on the last Friday I was home, when my mother was throwing a dinner party and had no desert.  Now, in a normal world my mother would have either quickly run to the shops to buy something or just not served any desert. But we do not live in a normal world.
Obviously, we had no butter because I had used it all up for some other baking adventure earlier in the week. So instead of giving up, I thought quick on my feet and whipped up a batch of these bad boys.  
Since I was feeling particularly lazy I used the easiest recipe I know. 
Seriously these are ridiculously simple to make.

All the ingredients you need for these babies

Caster Sugar
Egg Whites
1 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
2  teaspoons of vanilla essence


You may notice the lack of measurements in this recipe. That is because you make it up. Well, kind of. 
Allow me to explain. This recipe follows a simple formula:
The egg whites should way double the caster sugar.
For example:
Say 1 egg white weighs 39g, then you would combine it with 78g of caster sugar. Although that would definitely not make enough meringues. 
I usually use about 4 of 5 egg whites which makes many many meringues although it depends how big you make them. 


Pre-heat the oven to 100°C 


1. Whisk them egg white up until all the yellow egg whites become fully white.

Whisk the whites...

 2. The egg whites should look a bit like frothy shampoo but with smaller bubbles.

...until they turn white!

 3. After about 7 minutes the egg whites should be frothy but a bit stiff. Now this is the time consuming bit.It is time for a little bit o' sugga. 
The key is to add the sugar SLOWLY.
S-L-O-W-L-Y. 
I usually go by the spoon a minute rule. That's one teaspoon of sugar added every minute until its all gone, this usually takes me about 20 to 30 minutes.

Follow the teaspoon a minute rule

 4. Now just let the electric mixer do its work. Or whisk it by hand if you are some kind of robo-person. Either way whisk until it is stiff and glossy. 
Someone told me that a way of testing if its ready is to hold it upside-down over your head and hope that it stays in the bowl. This seems like a somewhat risky method and even if my meringue was perfect it would definitely still end up on my head. 

Stiff glossy meringue

 5. Now add the extras, the vinegar, cream of tartar and vanilla . The vanilla will turn the meringue an off white colour but whatever, its tasty so stop crying. 

6. Keep whisking until the mixture is very stiff. My mixture was so stiff that when i tried to lift the lid of my magic mixer the whisk got stuck! See:

That is one stiff mixture

7. Now spoon it all out into shapely blobs on a baking sheet  

Silky mixture

You can see from the photo below that the mixture is actually a little grainy, shouldda added the sugar slower.

Shapely blobs

8. Shove 'em in the oven for one to one and a half hours at 100°C  and then left them cool for at least 30 mins before gobbling them all up.

You could always pipe them out to make them look prettier but as I said before, I was in a particularly lazy mood. And they still tasted fabulous so whatever.

Tadda!

Sugar and slice notes:
In the past when making these I have added a few drops of rose oil, which I highly recommend. It gives them a wonderful  flavor and makes them even more addictive!