Meringue Monsters Recipes

FORGOTTEN MINT MERINGUE SURPRISES

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
• Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and green food coloring in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat until soft peaks form.
• Beat sugar into egg whites one tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form, and mixture is glossy and very smooth, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Drop the meringue by half teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet; top with chocolate kisses. Spoon a scant teaspoon of meringue over chocolate, and smooth to cover completely.
• Place cookies in the preheated oven; turn oven off. Leave meringues in oven overnight, or until oven has cooled completely.

MONSTER MERINGUES

Steps:

• Heat your oven to 400degreesF Line 2 flat baking sheets and a deep baking tray with baking parchment.
• Place the caster sugar in the deep baking tray in the oven for 7 minutes.
• Place the egg whites in a stand mixer on the slowest speed and start whisking. Gradually increase the speed until soft peaks form and the sugar is ready. Take the sugar out of the oven-it should be hot but not caramelized. Turn the temperature down to 200°F.
• Slowly add the sugar to your eggs with the mixer on full speed, one spoon at a time. Be careful not to add the sugar too quickly or your eggs will deflate.
• Once all the sugar has been added, keep the mixer going for a minute longer until the mixture looks thick and glossy. A good way to check if it is done is to dip the whisk into the mix to see if it creates a peak once pulled out.
• Divide the mixture between 4 bowls and carefully fold in the powdered food color.
• Scoop the mixture into 4 piping bags fitted with round and star nozzles. Pipe your monsters onto the baking sheets and add sprinkles.
• Bake for 1 hour until the meringue comes away from the baking parchment clean and the base is firm.
• Leave to cool.
• Stick on the eyes with a dot of icing.

MATCHA MONSTER MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250˚ F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the egg whites and salt in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium high; beat in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Continue beating until the meringue is thick, glossy and holds stiff peaks, about 6 more minutes.
• Transfer the meringue to a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe into spiral cone shapes, 2 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall, about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Decorate each meringue with a candy eyeball. Dust with the matcha.
• Transfer the meringues to the oven and bake 1 hour. Turn off the oven and let the meringues stand in the oven until dry, about 3 hours or overnight.

MERINGUE STARS

Steps:

• Make vanilla and coffee meringues:
• Preheat oven to 200°F with racks in upper, middle, and lower thirds of oven (or use 2 racks and bake in batches). Line 2 or 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat 1 egg white with vanilla (for vanilla meringues) and a pinch each of cream of tartar and salt with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until it just holds soft peaks. Add 2 tablespoons superfine sugar, a little at a time, beating, then increase speed to high and beat until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks. Fold in 2 tablespoons superfine sugar gently but thoroughly.
• Transfer meringue to a pastry bag fitted with tip, then dab some meringue under corners of parchment on all baking sheets to secure to sheets. Pipe 1-inch-wide stars (1 inch high) about 1/2 inch apart.
• Make coffee meringues using same amounts and procedure as above but using espresso powder (1 1/2 teaspoons) in place of vanilla.
• Make chocolate meringues:
• Sift cocoa through a fine-mesh sieve and whisk together with 2 tablespoons superfine sugar.
• Beat remaining egg white with a pinch each of cream of tartar and salt with mixer at medium-high speed until it just holds soft peaks. Add remaining 2 tablespoons superfine sugar, a little at a time, beating, then increase speed to high and beat until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks. Fold in cocoa mixture gently but thoroughly.
• Transfer meringue to a pastry bag and pipe more stars.
• Bake meringues:
• Bake, switching position of upper and lower sheets halfway through baking, until dry, crisp, and firm, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Meringues are done when they release from parchment.)
• Turn off oven and cool meringues in oven with door propped open about 1/2 inch using handle of a wooden spoon 1 hour, then slide parchment with meringues onto racks to cool completely.
• Dip meringues in chocolate:
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
• Stir together chocolate and vegetable oil until completely smooth. Peel meringues off parchment, then dip bottom of each into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. Transfer meringues to lined baking sheet, arranging as close together as possible, and when baking sheet is full, freeze meringues just until chocolate is set, about 3 minutes. Remove meringues from freezer.

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE STARS

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Add vanilla; beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Gently fold in cocoa. , Insert a large open star tip into a pastry bag; fill half full with meringue. Pipe stars, about 1-1/4 in. in diameter, or drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. , Bake at 300° for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from paper; cool on wire racks., In a microwave, melt chocolate and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip cookies halfway into glaze; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set.

MERINGUE MONSTERS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the caster sugar in a small roasting tray lined with baking parchment. Shake to level out the sugar and heat in the oven for about 5 mins until hot but not melting. This helps stabilise the egg whites and give a smooth and glossy meringue.
• Put the egg whites and cream of tartar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk slowly at first, gradually increasing the speed until the egg whites are at the stiff peak stage, about 5 mins. It's important not to over-whisk the egg whites. Remove the sugar from the oven as soon as the eggs whites are stiff.
• Turn the oven down to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼, leaving the door ajar to help it cool down quickly - the meringues need to be baked at a lower temperature.
• Turn the mixer up to full speed and start adding the sugar one tablespoon at a time. You want the egg whites to maintain their volume as you keep adding sugar, so if you see it starting to collapse, stop adding sugar and allow the mixture to stiffen and rise before adding the rest, a spoonful at a time.
• Once all the sugar has been added, keep whisking until you have a stiff and glossy mixture. It's ready to use when it holds its shape, about 2-5 mins after you add the last of the sugar. You should also be able to see peaks in the mixture as you remove and upturn the whisk.
• To add colour to your monsters, you will need to paint your piping bags. This mixture will make enough for two piping bags - one green, and one purple - but feel free to choose your own monster colours, and even mix them up by painting stripes. Turn your piping bags inside out. Place the bags over jugs or bottles so that they hold themselves up. Paint a thick layer of food colouring from the tip of the piping bag to halfway down the bag. Invert the bags, then carefully spoon your meringue into piping bags - one batch should fill two bags, shaking the mixture down to the bottom of the bag. Try to get rid of any big air bubbles you can see at this stage, but don't be too rough with the mixture.
• Cut some baking parchment to the size of your baking trays. Cut off the bottom inch of the piping bag (about a 50p-sized hole) and squeeze small dollops on to the corner of your baking trays to stick the parchment down.
• Hold the piping bag with both hands, placing your dominant hand at the top of the bag and your other hand halfway down the bag. Hold the bag steady, about 2cm above the tray and squeeze the bag from the top to start forming the body of your monsters. Stop squeezing once the meringue hits the tray. Lift the piping bag a little without creating a break between the meringue on the tray and the meringue left in the piping bag. Drop the bag back down again and squeeze gently to form the top part of the monster's body.
• Repeat until you have piped all of your mixture, working quickly as the mixture will loosen over time. Bake for 40-50 mins until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Leave to cool on the baking trays.
• If you want to make your own googly eyes, do this at least 24 hrs in advance. Make 100g stiff royal icing, colouring a quarter of this black using black gel colouring. Put the white and black icing into two separate piping bags. Use scissors to snip a little hole at the tip. Carefully pipe white dots onto a parchment-lined baking tray, then leave them to set. Once dry, use the black icing for the pupils. Pipe different-shaped eyes - some big, some small, or perhaps three adjoining. Leave to set overnight until they lift off the baking parchment easily. Use more icing to stick the eyes onto the meringues. Once set, will keep for two weeks in a cool dry place in a loosely covered container.