It is day 14 of December which means we are on a delicious countdown to Christmas! Every day this month, we will share some of our most Christmassy and festive recipes like Darina's Christmas meringues.
Ingredients
Meringues are a delicious and surprisingly calorie-friendly treat at any time of year but Darina's are a wee bit festive-y and special.
Speaking about this recipe from Darina Allen's A Simply Delicious Christmas: "Meringue is a magic substance that we use to make all manner of shapes to celebrate every occasion.
"These Christmas trees can be a dessert or can be used to decorate a cake or cupcakes."
- 4 egg whites, preferably free-range and organic
- 225 g (8oz) caster sugar
- 1–2 drops of natural food colouring of your choice (optional)
- decoration
- 50 g (2oz) chocolate, melted 1 pack of dragées (silver beads)
Method
- Preheat a fan oven to 100°C/200°F/gas mark 1/4.
- Put the egg whites into the spotlessly clean, dry, grease-free bowl of a food mixer. Break up with the whisk and then add all the caster sugar at once. Whisk at full speed for 4–5 minutes, until it holds a stiff peak. Add food colouring, if using, and whisk for 1–2 minutes more.
- Fill into a piping bag with a 1.5cm (5/8 in) round nozzle. Pipe into Christmas tree shapes, either pyramids or flat triangles, on a sheet of silicone paper. Bake in the low oven for 11/4 hours approx. If possible, allow to cool in the oven. When completely cool, decorate as desired with melted chocolate or coloured icing and dragées.
- To melt chocolate, put it in a Pyrex bowl set over a saucepan of water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Bring the water to the boil. Turn off the heat and allow to sit until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir and use.
Recipe taken from A Simply Delicious Christmas by Darina Allen, published by Gill and Macmillan.
