For Christmas I was given a copy of the Meringue Girls debut cookbook.
For those of you not in “the know” the girls are taking the UK by storm with their creative take on a this classic pudding. Their signature delight are Meringue Kisses, which come in a multitude of flavours.
I couldn’t wait to try their recipe and decided to create some kisses in my favourite flavour raspberry!
The only amend I made was that I no longer cook with refined white sugar so I used unrefined golden caster sugar (Billingtons).
They were wonderful, crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Here’s to many happy sessions of meringue making!
Raspberry Meringue Kisses
- 150g free-range egg whites (approx 5 medium eggs but I used Two Chicks Egg Whites)
- 300g unrefined golden caster sugar
- 3 tbsp of free-dried raspberries ground into a fine powder
- Natural pink food colouring
Line a couple of large baking sheets with baking paper and pre-heat the over to 200C/gas 6.
Line a roasting tin with baking paper pour in the caster sugar and bake in the oven until the edges are beginning to melt, it should take about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile weigh the egg whites in a free standing mixing bowl or non-plastic bowl.
Whisk the egg whites, slowly at first allowing small bubbles to form then increase the speed until stiff peaks form and the bowl can be tipped upside down without the egg whites falling out.
Once the sugar is cooked leave it in the oven but turn it down to 100C and keep the oven door ajar to aid the cooling.
Start to whisk at full speed adding one big tablespoon of the hot sugar at a time. Make sure that the egg whites go back to being stiff peaks after adding each spoonful.
Once you have added all the sugar continue to risk on full speed for about 5-7 minutes until the sugar has dissolved (test this by rubbing a bit of it between your fingers, if you can still feel the gritty sugar keep whisking).
The mixture will be reading when it forms a beautiful shiny smooth peak on your upturned finger. Before piping gently fold in the powdered freeze dried raspberries.
To colour the kisses turn a piping bag inside out over a jug or bottle, and use a clean paintbrush to pain thick stripes from the tip of the piping bag until halfway down the bag.
Then carefully spoon the ready meringue mixture into the bag as your turn it inside out. (I can never do this without making a spectacular mess!)
Cut the tip of a piping bag to the size of a 20p coin. Pipe small amounts of the mixture onto the four corners of the baking sheets to glue the baking paper to them.
To pipe hold the piping bag with both hands with your dominant hand at the top and the other halfway down the bag. Using your top hand to apply pressure and the lower hand to control the the flow of the mixture squeeze the bag to form the kisses. Mine were a bit wobbly at first but you’ll soon get the hand to it.
Bite size kisses take about 30-40 minutes to bake, however I have an old rickety oven and they tool well over and hour. They are ready when they lift of the baking sheet with their bases intact.
