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Meringue madness!

Meringues are something I take great pleasure in baking - it is just fun whipping up the egg whites, picking your flavour and then colour and piping the little kisses. At the end of last year I bought the Meringue Girls Cookbook, and have sworn by their basic recipe ever since - plus I like experimenting throwing in handfuls of whatever happens to be open in my cupboard and seeing how it turns out.

 Today I am making coconut kisses, as I am a little obsessed with the goodness of coconut at the moment, and like they say, it started with a kiss!

Ingredients:

75g egg whites
150g caster sugar
A handful of dessicated coconut
Red gel food colouring if desired

 Method:

 When making meringues, a food mixer is your friend - I have my beloved KitchenAid which makes the process of whipping the meringue a lot easier.

 Preheat your over to 100 degrees, and line a baking tray with paper ready for you to pipe onto later.

 Put your egg whites into your mixer, making sure the bowl is grease free. Using the whisk attachment, start on a low speed to allow small stabilisation bubbles to form, then increase the speed and whisk until stiff peaks form. They say the best way to check if your whites are ready is to hold the bowl upside down above your head. If you get egged, they weren't ready!
Testing that my whites were ready - I was scared taking this pic!
Gradually add in the sugar, one tablespoon at a time and continue to whisk for around 10 minutes. The mixture is ready when it feels smooth, rub a little bit between your fingers to test this, and it will be nice and shiny. Towards the end of the mixing throw in a handful of coconut for the flavour.

 Whilst the meringues are being whisked, you can prepare your piping bag. The kisses look nice just white, especially as these are coconut flavoured, but today I have painted red stripes onto the inside of my piping bag with a paint brush. When the mix is ready, using a big spoon fill the piping bag making sure there aren't any air bubbles.

 Cut the tip off of the piping bag and using two hands to hold the bag squeeze to form the kisses. Leave a couple of centimetres between each kiss then place the baking tray in the over.

 The amount of time you cook for depends on your oven, and how squidgy you like the meringue - I start with 45 minutes and if the kisses lift off the baking sheet easily they are ready. If they don't lift, pop them back in for another 15 minutes.

 Et voilà, you have some beautiful looking, very tasty treats which disappear mightily fast in my house.   

I hope you enjoy! Kirsty :)



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