Chewy Fruitcake Meringues Recipes

CHEWY FRUITCAKE MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast until golden and fragrant, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool slightly; chop.
• Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees. Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a mixer set over a pot of simmering water (do not let bottom touch water). Whisk until eggs are foamy and sugar dissolves (mixture should feel smooth and warm to the touch when rubbed between your fingers). Transfer to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add cream of tartar, and beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, 7 to 9 minutes.
• Combine hazelnuts, fruits, and candied citron and peel in a bowl. Fold maraschino syrup and all but 1/4 cup of fruit-nut mixture into meringue. Drop heaping tablespoons of meringue mixture onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Top with remaining fruit-nut mixture.
• Bake, rotating sheets and rack positions halfway through, until meringues have darkened slightly and are tacky on surfaces but no longer sticky, 1 hour to 1 hour, 10 minutes. Turn oven off (do not open door); let cool in oven until dry and crisp on outsides, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature, between sheets of parchment, up to 5 days. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

CRISP CHEWY MERINGUES

Steps:

• Using a whisk or electric mixer, whip the egg whites and salt into peaks. Add the vanilla, and continue beating to stiff peaks.
• Stir the cream of tartar into the regular sugar and whisk into the whites very gradually, a spoonful at a time, until the meringue is stiff and the sugar has dissolved.
• Sift together the icing sugar and cornstarch. Sift over the meringue and gently fold until fully incorporated.
• Pipe or spoon the meringues onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 225 degrees F/110 degrees C until cream-coloured and crisp on top when tapped, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove the meringues from the oven. Cool on the trays. Store in an air-tight container.