Ghastly Meringues Recipes

GEODE MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium high. Beat in the granulated sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, adding a couple drops of black food coloring with the final tablespoon of sugar to tint the mixture light gray. Beat in the vanilla if using. Continue beating until the meringue is thick and glossy and holds stiff peaks, 6 minutes more.
• Spray a 3-tablespoon (#20) cookie scoop with nonstick spray and scoop balls of the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Lightly dust the tops with cocoa powder--you should see meringue underneath.
• Bake the meringues until set, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven, turn off the oven and keep the oven door closed. Let the meringues sit until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes. Then, hollow them out this way: Hold a meringue flat-side up in one hand. With the edge of a metal teaspoon, gently carve a hole in the center of the meringue's base, leaving some lip around the opening. Press your thumb into the hole and push the inside of the meringue up against the walls to hollow out the interior (see Cook's Note).
• Return the meringues to the baking sheet and place them in the turned-off oven until completely dried out, at least 3 hours and up to 8 hours.
• With a wooden spoon, smash the rock candy sticks in their bags to break the sugar off the sticks and into smaller crystals. Pour the crystals into small bowls separated by color.
• Place the white candy melting wafers in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted.
• Use a pastry brush to paint a circle of melted wafers (about the size of a quarter) on the bottom of a meringue cavity. Immediately fill the cavity with dark-colored rock candy. Wait a few seconds, then pour the excess rock candy back into its bowl. Paint the rest of the cavity with melted wafers. Immediately fill the cavity with light-colored rock candy. Wait a few seconds before pouring out the excess. Repeat with the remaining meringues, wafers and rock candy.

GHASTLY MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Beat in the sugar; increase the mixer speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe 8 to 10 swirls on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until dry, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let cool completely.
• Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave on 50 percent power until melted, about 1 minute, stirring halfway. Transfer the melted chocolate to a zip-top bag and snip a corner. Pipe the chocolate on the meringues to look like eyes.

MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer); beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium high; beat in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, then add the extract or zest. Continue beating until the meringue is thick, glossy and holds stiff peaks, about 6 minutes.
• For colored cookies, swirl a few drops of food coloring into the meringue or use a small paintbrush to paint 3 long stripes of food coloring up the inside of a pastry bag. For chocolate chip versions, gently fold the mini chocolate chips into the mixture.
• Drop or pipe the meringue as desired, about 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired. Bake 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let the meringues stand in the oven until dry, about 2 hours. Top with or dip in melted chocolate and sprinkle with nonpareils.

MERINGUE BONES AND GHOSTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
• Whisk eggs whites and lemon juice together in a bowl until thick, white, and foamy. Add sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking constantly, until meringue is shiny, thick, and holds its shape.
• Transfer meringue to a piping bag. Pipe 12 bone shapes onto a prepared baking sheet. Pipe 12 puffs to resemble ghosts onto the remaining baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until dried and firm, about 1 hour. Turn off the oven, close the door, and cool until completely dried, about 1 hour more.
• Dip the tip of a toothpick into melted chocolate and dot chocolate "eyes" on each of the ghosts.

MERINGUE GHOSTS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the sugar in a small roasting tray lined with baking parchment. Shake to level out the sugar and heat in the oven for about 5 mins until hot but not melting. This helps stabilise the egg whites and give a smooth and glossy meringue.
• Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar using an electric mixer. Whisk slowly at first, gradually increasing the speed until the egg whites are at the stiff peak stage, about 5 mins. It's important not to over-whisk the egg whites. Remove the sugar from the oven as soon as the eggs whites are stiff.
• Reduce the oven to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼, leaving the door ajar to help it cool down quickly - the meringues need to be baked at a lower temperature.
• Turn the mixer up to full speed and start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. You want the egg whites to maintain their volume as you keep adding sugar - if you see it starting to collapse, stop adding sugar and allow the mixture to stiffen and rise before adding the rest, a spoonful at a time.
• Once all the sugar has been added, keep whisking until you have a stiff and glossy mixture. It's ready to use when it holds its shape, usually about 2-5 mins after you add the last of the sugar. You should also be able to see peaks in the mixture when you remove and upturn the whisk.
• Add the pumpkin spice flavouring to your meringue if using, and gently fold it through the mixture. Do this by hand rather than in the mixer.
• Spoon your flavoured meringue into piping bags - one batch should fill two bags - shaking the mixture down to the bottom of the bag. Try to get rid of any big air bubbles you can see at this stage, but don't be too rough with the mixture.
• Cut parchment to the size of your baking trays. Cut off the bottom inch of the piping bag (about a 50p sized hole) and squeeze small dollops on to the corner of your baking trays to stick the parchment down.
• Hold the piping bag with both hands, placing one hand at the top of the bag and your other hand halfway down the bag. Hold the bag steady, about 2cm above the tray, and squeeze the bag from the top to start forming the body of your ghost. Keep the bag completely still while squeezing, using your lower hand to keep the bag steady.
• Stop squeezing once the meringue hits the tray. Lift the piping bag a tiny amount, without creating a break between the meringue on the tray and the meringue left in the piping bag. Drop the bag back down again and squeeze gently to form the top part of the ghost's body. Lift the piping bag straight up to leave a peak on the top of your ghosts' heads. This will take a bit of practice so don't worry if you don't get it right the first time, just keep going and get a feel for it! Repeat until you have piped all of your mixture - be sure to work quickly as your mixture will loosen over time. Find our tips for piping perfection below.
• Bake for about 40-50 mins until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Leave to cool completely on the baking trays. Once cooled, draw two big, droopy eyes and an open mouth. If you don't have an edible pen, you can gently melt 50g dark chocolate in a microwave and use a small paint brush to paint on the faces. Will keep for up to two weeks in a loosely covered container.