Rainbow Rippled Meringues Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1 and line 2 large baking sheets with baking parchment. First, set up your piping bags. You will need 3 disposable piping bags for the 3 flavours. Using a wet paintbrush, paint lines of undiluted food colouring along the inside of the piping bags. Be quite generous, because you want bold colours. Wash the brush well between each colour so they don't mix. Snip off the end of 1 bag and drop in an extra-large round piping nozzle, then put the bags to one side.
• Tip the egg whites into a large mixing bowl or table-top mixer - make sure it's grease-free before you start. Whisk the eggs with an electric hand whisk or in your mixer, until they hold soft peaks. Begin adding the sugar 1 tbsp at a time, whisking continuously, until you have a thick and glossy meringue, which will hold up in a stiff peak on the end of the whisk. Divide the meringue into 3 bowls and swirl through your chosen flavourings (to correspond to the piping bag colours). You want to achieve a marbled effect rather than thoroughly mixing it all in.
• Put the piping bag fitted with your nozzle into a tall glass or jug and roll the piping bag down over the lip of the jug to hold it in place. Fill the bag with the correct flavoured meringue to match the colour in the bag. Lift up and twist the end to seal.
• Hold the piping bag about 2cm vertically above the baking tray. Apply an even pressure to the bag, slowly lifting the bag as you squeeze, to make a smooth round meringue, approximately 6cm wide. To finish with a nice peak at the top, push down a little on the mixture then quickly pull the nozzle away.
• Continue until all the mixture in the bag is used up, leaving enough room for the meringues to spread a little. Quickly remove the nozzle, wash it and dry well, then drop in the next piping bag. Continue with the remaining mixtures until it they are all used up and you have 2 trays covered with 3 colours of meringues.
• Bake for 1 hr, turning the heat down to 120C/100C fan/gas ½ for the final 30 mins. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks while you make another batch of meringues with the remaining 3 flavours, if you like. Can be made up to a week ahead and kept in an airtight container, or serve with our flavoured creams (see tips, below).

Steps:

• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment and set up a piping bag with a medium-size star nozzle.
• In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until very stiff - the whites should stand in stiff, not floppy, peaks when the beaters are lifted out. Once you have reached this point, pour in roughly half the sugar and the vanilla extract and whisk again until the mixture becomes very thick, firm and shiny. Add the remaining sugar and whisk again until thick, firm and shiny. If you like meringues with soft, mallowy centres, just add 1 tsp cornflour and 1 tsp white wine vinegar to the mix along with the sugar.
• Carefully spoon the meringue into the piping bag. Push any air out of the top and tightly twist the end of the piping bag to seal. Gently squeeze until meringue is visible at the end of the nozzle, then begin piping onto your lined baking sheets. Pipe spiralling circles, about 6cm wide and 3 layers high - like you would ice a cupcake to make roughly 18. The meringues will spread slightly as they cook, so leave enough space between each one. Bake in the oven for 1 hr, turning the heat down to 120C/100C fan/gas ½ after 30 mins.
• Remove from the oven - they should peel easily away from the parchment - and cool on a wire rack. Can be made up to a week ahead and kept in an airtight container, or frozen for up to 3 months, between layers of parchment, in an airtight container.
• To make Cream & chocolate meringues for dessert, put 100g dark chocolate in a glass bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water. Carefully dip the base of each meringue in to coat, then place on their sides on a plate or tray to set. While the chocolate sets, whip 300ml double cream. Assemble the meringues in pairs and sandwich their chocolate bases together with a good spoonful of cream. Delicious served with ice cream, raspberry coulis or fresh berries.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Add the sugar to a baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. The edges may begin to caramelize - this is good! Remove the sugar from the oven and leave the oven on.
• In a large clean, dry bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric hand mixer on low speed until foamy, then add the salt. Continue whipping on high speed until medium peaks form.
• Add the toasted sugar to the egg whites 1 tablespoon at a time, increasing the mixer speed gradually as you add more sugar. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, continue whipping for 5-7 minutes, until the meringue is very thick and shiny.
• Add in vanilla, just whipping until incorporated.
• Prop open a piping bag or zip-top bag in a tall drinking glass. Using wooden skewers, lightly paint 2 thin stripes of different-colored gel food coloring on opposite sides of the bag. Paint additional bags with more colors, if desired.
• Fill each bag with the meringue batter, dividing evenly amongst different colors, if using.
• Pipe 1-inch (2-cm) wide "kisses" of meringue onto a baking sheet about ½ inch (1 cm) apart.
• Bake for about 1 hour, or until you can easily lift a kiss off of the paper.
• Cool the meringues on the baking sheet at room temperature until no longer warm.
• To fill, pipe buttercream icing around the edge of a cookie and place a small dollop of jam in the center. Sandwich with another cookie.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Trace an 8-inch circle onto a piece of parchment paper. Turn over paper and place on a baking sheet. In a food processor, puree half the raspberries, 1 teaspoon sugar, and lemon juice until smooth. With a rubber spatula, press mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Discard solids and set sauce aside. In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar and cornstarch.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream of tartar, egg whites, and pinch of salt on high until foamy. Reduce speed to low and add sugar mixture in 3 additions, beating on high 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down bowl and beat on high until stiff peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add 2 tablespoons raspberry sauce to meringue, but do not stir. With rubber spatula, mound meringue (it will ripple as you scoop) onto prepared parchment on sheet, using circle as a guide.
• Bake meringue until crisp and dry on outside, about 1 hour 50 minutes. Turn off heat and let meringue dry in oven, 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack. To serve, gently peel meringue from parchment and transfer to a platter. Top with whipped cream and remaining raspberry sauce and raspberries.