Sunday, January 10, 2010

peppermint meringues


happy new year! it's not too late to blog about peppermint things, right? still winter...at least it is here.

and speaking of here, i'm in my new place! after a move at 28 weeks pregnant, across town, i live in my "home" for now, a condo on lake michigan. and after a week without internet, i am connected again and can resume blogging. for once, i've got posts ready to go and am starting the new year fresh. my biggest change, besides actually blogging on a regular basis, is no more rounded corners. did you notice? it just takes too much time to edit every photo and then go in and do the 5 step process of rounding the corners on each one. i have had so many people email me about them so i felt like i had to keep doing it, but it got to be too much...and isn't this interesting? this topic of rounded or square corners? more so than meringues? no.



i love meringues and i make them every december. i wanted peppermint this year and found this simple recipe to try out.

peppermint meringues (slightly adapted from allrecipes.com)
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 c white sugar
2 peppermint candy canes, crushed

1. preheat oven to 225F and line 2 cookie sheets with foil
2. in a glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar to soft peaks
3. gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until whites form stiff peaks
4. fold in crushed candy canes
5. fill a piping bag (or ziplock bag) with mixture and pipe 3-swirl dollops 1 inch apart onto cookie sheets

6.
bake for 1 1/2 hours, until meringues are completely dry on the inside
*do not allow them to brown*
7. turn off oven, keep door ajar, and let meringues sit in the oven until completely cool




yum! these were just as i had hoped. crunchy, light, and airy and full of peppermint flavor. you do need to make sure they are completely cooked, so test one (by peeling it off the foil and checking the under/inside) before shutting off the heat. they'll continue to dry out in the cooling oven, but sometimes the insides stay sticky and you don't want that.

husband brought some of these into work and it seems his coworkers enjoyed them. many had not had meringues before, so it's nice to introduce new foods to people.

3 comments:

Bridget said...

Your photos don't need rounded corners to be beautiful!

Unknown said...

hmm, i think i can actually manage this recipe! i'm going to try it :)

Thomas said...

I told J all about these. I was so excited to see the pictures and the concept that I forgot to read the post. Hilarious re: the corners and AMAZING photos!

Congrats on being moved and having internet.