peppermint meringues

I have found the secret to perfect meringues, every single time.  No more worries about humidity or temperature, no more whipping and whipping until you're blue in the face, only to produce soft peaks.  And as an added bonus, no more worries about eggs expiring in your fridge.

Because my secret to meringues is so painfully obvious:  egg white powder.  I actually mentioned it in my last recipe post, because I used it for royal icing, in which the egg whites are never cooked.  But ever since then, whenever I have a recipe that calls for whipped egg whites, guess what makes my life so much easier?  That very same jar of egg white powder.

Just make sure you buy the kind with no added sugar.  This stuff isn't cheap, and you don't want to pay more for something you probably have on hand or could buy for a lot less.  I found mine at a specialty cooking store, but you can also buy it on Amazon here.

Now go make these for Valentine's day!

Peppermint Meringue Recipe

INGREDIENTS

4 tbsp egg white powder and 7 tbsp water (or substitute 2 egg whites)

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Whip the egg whites until thick and foamy. Mix together the sugar, peppermint extract and cream of tarter, and add the misture gradually. Continue to whip until the mixture forms stiff peaks (you can turn the bowl upside down and nothing falls out).

Bake for 90 minutes to two hours, or until meringues are firmly set.

Makes about 20 meringues.