Meringue Kisses
Meringue is not baked, it is dried: at a hundred degrees it neither rises nor browns, it slowly gives up its moisture. Every failure comes down to three things — fat in the bowl, sugar that has not dissolved, and too much heat. The ratio never changes: twice as much sugar as white, by weight.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 2 h
- Rest
- 1 h
- Total
- 3 h 20 min
- Servings
- 8
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 120 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: about 40 pieces, 8 portions
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Degrease everything
Wipe the bowl and beaters with lemon juice or vinegar and dry them. A drop of fat or yolk stops whites whipping at all — the most common failure there is.
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Step 2: Whip to soft foam
Beat the whites with the salt on medium to a soft, billowy foam, 1–2 minutes. Starting too fast gives large, unstable bubbles.
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Step 3: Add the sugar by the spoonful
Without stopping, add a tablespoon every 20 seconds. All of it should be in within 4–5 minutes: the sugar needs time to dissolve.
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Step 4: Test between your fingers
Rub a little between finger and thumb — it should feel smooth. Undissolved sugar later leaks out of the meringue as syrup.
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Step 5: Whip to stiff peaks
Add the lemon juice and vanilla and beat to a glossy, stiff meringue: turn the bowl over and nothing should move.
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Step 6: Pipe
Pipe small rosettes onto parchment, 2 cm apart. Meringue barely spreads, so they can sit close.
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Step 7: Dry at 100 °C
Dry for 1.5–2 hours at 100 °C with the door ajar (wedge it with a wooden spoon). They are done when they lift cleanly off the paper and are dry inside.
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Step 8: Cool in the oven
Switch the oven off and leave them inside until completely cold, at least an hour. A sudden change in temperature cracks them.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Whites that have sat in the fridge for a few days and then come to room temperature whip best: they hold less water.
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Tip
Do not make meringue on a rainy day or dry it in a steamy kitchen — sugar pulls moisture from the air and the meringues go sticky within the hour.
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Variation
Coloured: add gel colour at the end of whipping (liquid colour thins the mix). Chocolate: 2 tbsp of sifted cocoa folded in with a spatula.
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Storage
Two weeks in an airtight jar at room temperature. In the fridge they take up moisture and stop being crisp.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 8 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 120 kcal | 960 kcal |
| Protein | 2 g | 16 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 29 g | 232 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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