Chocolate Dipped Meringues

I love meringues – you can hardly believe how low in calories they are for something so sugary and delicious! After making semifreddo a few weeks ago, I attempted making meringues with the left over egg whites. They were simply a disaster.I had to throw the mix away because I under-whipped the whites but didn’t realise until after adding the sugar.

I hate failure, so today I asked my Nan her recipe and tips and I had another attempt:

Okay, they’re far from perfect. Nan’s rules are simple:

2 ounces of sugar for every large egg

Whip the whites until they form stiff peaks – the mixture shouldn’t move about the bowl when tilted

Add the sugar slowly – about an ounce at a time

Don’t over-whip the whites – they’ll flop

My mixture was much better than last time, but I think in an effort to add the sugar slowly, I over-whipped the whites. It was thick enough to pipe into lovely little droplets, but 2 minutes later my beautiful mini meringues had sunk into little puddles.

I put these in the oven at 140C for 30 minutes, turned off the heat and left them in there to cool. I then dipped them in dark chocolate to make them look a bit prettier, but it also makes them taste more luxurious!

The size of the meringues meant that they cooked in much less time than my grandmother recommended – instead of an hour, they were colouring within 30 minutes. However, this was such a blessing! When bitten in to, they were soft and marshmallow-y in the middle, and lovely and crunchy on the outside! Perfect!

Although they tasted great, I won’t rest until I have a perfectly shaped meringue!