Magical Meringues Recipe

Made from whipped egg whites and powdered sugar, meringues are light, airy and very sweet. Follow this easy recipe to make perfect meringues - or use it as a basis for other desserts such as pavlovas or lemon meringue pudding, or simply as a treat on its own. So easy to make, and an inexpensive recipe to demonstrate. For an extra special touch, place meringues in an attractive glass jar for your next Sunday afternoon tea and catch the compliments!

Makes approximately 50 small meringues

•  3 large egg whites
• 210g castor sugar (250ml or 1 cup) 
• 5ml vanilla essence (1 teaspoon) or 1 vanilla bean pod, scraped
• 5ml white vinegar
• 30ml boiling water (2 tablepoons) 
• 10ml baking powder (2 teaspoons)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 100 degrees. 
2. Line baking trays with baking powder, do not grease (do not use greaseproof paper).
3. Using a clean, dry bowl of the electric food mixer, whisk egg whites until a soft peak is formed. 
4. Add sugar spoon by spoon, slowly whisking all the time. 
5. With the last teaspoon of sugar, mix in vanilla essence, or the vanilla bean paste and whisk well. 
6. Add boiling water and whisk again for 5 minutes. 
7. Lastly, add baking powder and whisk for a minute. 
8. Place mixture into a piping bag which has been fitted with a nozzle. 
9. Pipe onto prepared baking trays.
10. Bake for 60 minutes. Switch off the oven and leave in the oven, if possible, for a further 30 minutes. 

My tried and tested tip is to make the meringues smaller so that they will cook slightly quicker! Using a disposable piping bag makes for easy cleaning up after so you have less washing up to worry about and more time preparing for guests. 

Try this out and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Love,
Yo Homi