Over the rainbow meringues

Is there anything more joyful in appearance than a mountainous, brilliant white meringue? The whitest caster sugar and fresh, cold egg whites make for the best, most impressive snowy-peaked meringues. The colourful swirls can of course be themed to the party boy or girl’s favourite colour.

INGREDIENTS

1 large egg

pinch cream of tartar

60g caster sugar

gel food colouring

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 90°C or its lowest setting. The hotter the oven the more the meringues will be an off-white. Line 2 baking trays with foil, shiny side up.

Separate your egg. I use the shell – pass the yolk from half shell to half shell until all the white has dropped into a bowl below. Or hold the entire egg in a splayed hand, letting the white fall through your fingertips whilst holding on to the yolk. Or you can use an egg separator contraption. Keep the yolk for another use.

Whisk the white and cream of tartar in a large bowl until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes with a mixer and 5–7 by hand. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition. Don’t chuck the lot in and hope for the best as you’ll end up with meringues with sugary strands. When all the sugar has been absorbed they’ll be a glossy, brilliant white and stand up to very stiff peaks. Dip a teaspoon into the colouring and swirl in the meringue for a ripple effect. Use a maximum of 2 colours to avoid hues sludging together.

Heap tablespoons onto the trays, spaced 4 cm apart to allow for swelling. Bake for 40 minutes before testing; they’re ready when they easily come away from the foil but are not coloured. This can take up to 2 hours. Turn the oven off and leave to cool in the oven if possible (this prevents the cracking that occurs from a sudden change in temperature) or on a wire rack if not.

IDEAS FOR EGG YOLKS

Pop the spare yolk(s) into an ice-cube tray and freeze, then transfer to a freezer bag and thaw as required in the fridge overnight. Or use to make lime or lemon curd.

#normalmum #meringue