Friday, January 2, 2015

Christmas Tree meringue cookies




Last Christmas I had made adorable meringues cookies shaped as Christmas trees with sprinkles and stars. They were so light, that they just melt in the mouth.  There are a few things that you need to keep in mind when making them, firstly you need to add sugar at intervals...not all of it at once. Secondly, you need to keep the temperature in the oven low, especially if you have a fan forced oven, so that it dries the cookie on the inside and not burn them on the outside.


Ingredients
Meringue Cookies

    4 eggs whites
    1 cup sugar
    Pinch of tartar
    1/8 teaspoon of mint extract
    2-4 drops of green food coloring
   
Decoration

Multi color sprinkles
Star sprinkles



Method
  1. Turn the oven to the lowest temperature of about 150-170 degrees F. 
  2. Place sugar, egg whites and tartar in a bowl over (not directly on) simmering water. Constantly whisk the egg whites until the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Pour the egg mixture into a clean bowl and add mint extract. Using a whisk attachment on a stand mixer or a hand held mixture, slowly beat egg mixture on medium low. Once mixture is no longer opaque, add in green food coloring. Increase speed and continue to beat mixture until stiff peaks have almost formed. Mixture is ready when the whisk attachment if dipped into mixture, leaves a curled but stiff peak when removed.
  4. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. 
  5. Pipe ½ inch to ¾ inch wide and 1 inch height swirls. Put a star sprinkle at the top and multi-color sprinkles around it. Make sure to set them one inch apart from one another.  
  6. Bake for 2 hours, then turn off oven and leave the door slightly open for meringues to cool in the oven.  
  7. Store meringue cookies in an airtight container away from any heat or moisture. Alternatively, store them in the freezer where they can be enjoyed straight from the freezer without any defrosting.



Tip: Draw circles on the reverse side of the baking sheets to get a perfect circle.
Note: It is better to bake and leave these cookies in the oven overnight, as it dries out perfectly.