After last year's Halloween Spooky Meringues tremendous success I had no other option than making them again, with a little twist! This time, I played with the meringue mixture itself, trying to create faces, shapes and ghosts expressions while piping. I also added a hint of black food coloring in the meringue preparation before shaping them. It resulted in "waves" that gave another dimension to my sweet spooky creations. The decoration (for the eyes and mouth) is made using edible ink.

MERINGUES

You can buy good quality meringues from a local bakery. If you are up for the challenge and have some free time for “meringues from scratch” here are the proportions I use.

I work with fresh eggs and not pre-packaged liquid egg-whites.

My principal ratio is 1/4 cup of granulated sugar for every egg white. (I use extra large organic eggs).

Egg whites from 6 eggs (approx 200g) at room temperature

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (320g)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy and almost double in volume. Slowly add the sugar, a little at a time until all the sugar has been incorporated and the egg whites are whipped to a stiff stage: the mixture should look glossy, shiny.

Pipe or shape as desired on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven 225F (105C). Depending on the size and shape of your meringues, baking time might take around 2 hours. When the meringues are cooked through and hold their shape upon handling turn the oven off. Put a wooden spoon to keep the oven door open slightly open and allow the meringues to cool down in the oven,… slowly!

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