Meringue Cookies (Meringue Kisses)

Ingredients

• 100 g fresh egg whites (from about 3 large eggs (please see recipe notes))
• 170 g caster sugar (generous ¾ cup)
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 Pinch salt (optional)
• White vinegar

Steps

1. 1

   Separate the egg whites from the eggs. It's crucial to use fresh egg whites that have not been contaminated with any fat residue. Even a little bit of fat or egg yolk will prevent the egg whites from forming into a meringue. See recipe notes for tips on how to separate egg whites with minimum grease contamination.

2. 2

   Measure the ingredients and place them in separate clean bowls.

3. 3

   Preheat the oven to 200°F / 93°C (convection oven).

4. 4

   Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper or silpat. Set aside until needed.

5. 5

   Place the separated egg whites (make sure that NO yolks were broken), in the clean mixer bowl.

6. 6

   Add the cream of tartar and a pinch of salt (if using).

7. 7

   Place the bowl in the stand mixer with the clean whisk attachment attached.

8. 8

   Start whisking at medium speed until the egg whites become foamy.

9. 9

   Start adding the caster sugar one spoonful at a time (stream in the sugar from the spoon), with about 5 - 10 seconds between each spoonful. Adding too much sugar at once can cause the egg whites to lose structure and not be able to create a stable foam.

10. 10

    Once all the sugar is added, stop whisking, and use a clean metal spoon to scrape down sugar that might be stuck to the sides of the bowl.

11. 11

    Resume whisking the meringue mixture on medium - high / high speed, until the egg whites are glossy, thick, and reach stiff peaks. Make sure the mixture has no undissolved sugar.

12. 12

    Add the vanilla and mix it in on low / medium speed.

13. 13

    OPTIONAL - if you want to add color, you can add it along with the vanilla. If you want to make a color swirled meringue, place about 1 cup of meringue mixture in a separate (clean) bowl and add gel food coloring and fold it in. Then add the colored portion back into the rest of the meringue and partially fold it in to create swirls.

14. 14

    Place a piping tip in a large piping bag. Cut the end of the piping bag so that the piping tip can fit comfortably. I use a French star tip with a ¾ - 1 inch opening. You can also use an open star tip or round tip.

15. 15

    Stuff a little bit of the piping bag into the piping tip to create a seal at the end with the piping tip.

16. 16

    Fill the bag with the meringue mixture, making sure there is enough room to twist and seal the meringue bag to make it easier to hold and pipe.

17. 17

    Un-block the piping tip and push down the meringue mixture with minimal air pockets. Twist the open end to close.

18. 18

    Pipe meringue mounds on the prepared half sheet pan. To make the shapes in the post, hold the piping bag perpendicular to the baking pan, and squeeze the meringue out just above the sheet pan to create a thick base, and then slowly lift the piping bag as you stop squeezing out the meringue. Remove the tip and piping bag straight up after you're done to create that pointed end.

19. 19

    Repeat to fill the baking pan. Leave about 1 inch of space between the meringues. They shouldn’t expand too much.

20. 20

    Place the meringue cookies in the middle rack in your preheated oven. Usually you will only be able to bake one sheet at a time to ensure even baking. If you do have a multi rack oven, follow your oven manual to know where to place the baking racks.

21. 21

    Bake the meringue cookies for about 1 ½ hours for smaller cookies, and 2 hours for larger cookies. Meringue cookies that are done baking will easily pull off the parchment paper.

22. 22

    Once baked, switch off the oven and let the meringue cookies cool for a minimum of 2 hours in the oven. This gradual cooling down is essential for properly drying out the cookies for a crisp texture.

23. 23

    After the meringue cookies have cooled down in the oven, remove them from the oven and let them cool down completely at room temperature. Then place them in an airtight container.

24. 24

    If you'd like to dip the meringue kisses in chocolate, melt chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave.

25. 25

    Temper the chocolate for best results. I use the seeding method by adding about 10% more chopped chocolate into the melted chocolate and mix it until the chocolate melts. The temperature should be about 90°F for tempered dark chocolate.

26. 26

    Then carefully dip the meringue base in the melted chocolate, and place them on a parchment paper.

27. 27

    Once the chocolate is set, you can store them in an airtight container.