At this time of year, I am inundated with eggs, luckily I do have avenues to sell them. Which as such allows me to keep more chickens than I really need. I also have a good collection of different breeds which provide me with cream, brown, green and blue eggs.
But, getting back to being inundated, meringues are great, now I have an electric oven, you really cannot go wrong…. whisk, add sugar… whisk.. put in oven for around an hour and they are done, they will also last in an air tight container for a good couple of weeks or so.
This version gives a bit of a kick and colour to the standard version, but is just as easy…
chocolate peppermint
mint in pestle and mortar
Ingredients 2 large egg whites 100g caster sugar 20g of peppermint ( or any other you may have)
meringue and mint
meringues ready to cook
Method
set the oven at 150c Having already separated the egg whites, whisk them to get stiff peaks Add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, whilst continuing to whisk Using a pestle and mortar mash up the mint along with a good pinch of sugar this is actually harder than it looks, I add quite a bit of sugar as it helps break down the leaves Add the mint to the meringue mix, gently stir in with a metal spoon. Place some parchment onto a baking tray Using the metal spoon place a dollop of the mixture onto the parchment then add a smaller dollop on top (this helps to make the pointy look) Turn the oven down to 140oC Place in the oven for around around an hour. They are cooked when slightly brown on top and hollow when tapped Once cooked, turn the heat off in the oven, leave the door ajar but leave them in to cool, this helps (but doesn't stop) them cracking
