Chocolate Meringues

These meringues are light, crispy, melt in mouth and so full of chocolate!!

It’s beautiful out there with Christmas just a week away, the houses in my neighborhood are so beautifully lit up and the town is decorated with all Christmas colors. Supermarkets are flooded with people doing last minute shopping, its cookies and Christmas cakes everywhere. Loving the festive atmosphere out here and this reminds me the way we celebrate Diwali back in India.

And it’s raining gifts too, A & A have got some gifts which they will be exchanging with their school friends. For me Santa definitely came in early this year and I got my KitchenAid stand mixer which was on my mind for quite some time. So it was December 9^th early morning when I came down to make morning tea and opened the main door to get the newspaper only to find a parcel lying outside. I couldn’t wait and immediately opened to find the biggest surprise. VK, you are simply the best and I loved the surprise so much. I love surprises, who doesn’t?? So let’s create magic with this beautiful piece of machine.

Meringues were on my holiday baking list, but personally I am never a fan of meringue as they never really excite me but once in a while they are ok. A & A love these sweet, fluffy and airy little desserts and when kiddos love you know you have to bake. I decided to play safe and opted with their favorite chocolate flavor. “Desserts are like feel good song and the best ones make you dance – Chef Edward Lee”. This exactly was the case when kiddos saw the meringues when they were back from school.

Meringues are simple to make come together very quickly with basic ingredients. Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside they are delightful once in a while. These can be enjoyed as it or serve it as a layered dessert as I did with fresh berries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Perfect for holiday parties!

So here they are very simple to make, we need to beat the egg whites till frothy on low speed then slowly add the sugar and continue beating further, add the cocoa powder, vanilla and continue beating till stiff peaks form which takes about 10 minutes. Beating eggs and then baking them require some patience so keep calm. The result will be light, crispy and chocolaty and delightful little cookies to enjoy.

The Best Chocolate Meringues

Ingredients

· 4 egg whites @ room temperature

· 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

· ¾ th cup castor sugar

· 1/8 th tsp salt

· ½ tsp lemon juice

· 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

· Preheat the oven to 210 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

· Place the egg whites in the mixing bowl of stand mixer, taking care the mixing bowl is absolutely clean with no grease or
any residues.

· With whisk attachment beat the eggs on medium speed, as they begin to get foamy add the salt and lemon juice and continue beating till you get soft peaks.

· Beat in the vanilla.

· At this stage slowly add sugar and continue beating till all the sugar is used up. The mixture will look glossy.

· Continue beating till stiff peaks form. You know your mixture is ready when you turn the bowl upside down and the mixture sticks to it.

· Add in the cocoa powder and very gently fold with a rubber spatula. Mix till uniform in color. Be gentle as we don’t want to loose the trapped air.

· Seal the parchment paper by dabbing meringue on all corners.

· Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag with star nozzle and pipe onto the prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart.

· Bake for 1 hour until crisp and comes off the parchment paper easily. Allow to cool completely in the oven once baked.

· Enjoy as it or serve with fresh berries, whipped cream and some chocolate sauce.

Notes :

1) Eggs are best separated when they are cold.

2) Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature for best peaks.

3) Use sugar fine sugar or icing sugar only.