Rainbow Swirl Meringues Recipe By Tasty

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:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Add vanilla bean seeds. Set bowl over a pot of simmering water, and stir until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm, about 3 minutes. Add salt and cream of tartar.
• Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and meringue is mostly cooled, about 7 minutes. Beat in zest.
• Using a small paintbrush, paint 3 vertical stripes of food coloring inside a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip (Ateco #805). Fill bag with meringue, and pipe 1 3/4-inch circular shapes (they don't need to be perfect rounds) 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. As you finish piping each shape, apply less pressure to pastry bag, and swirl the tip off in a circular motion.
• Bake meringues until crisp on the outside but still soft inside, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the egg whites and salt in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy (use the whisk attachment if using a stand mixer). Add the cream of tartar; increase the speed to medium high and add the superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the meringue (or add the extract) and continue beating until the sugar is dissolved and the meringue is thick, glossy and forms stiff peaks, about 6 minutes.
• Fit a piping bag with a large star tip. Fill the bag with the meringue and pipe spirals on the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
• Bake 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let the meringues stand in the oven until dry, about 2 hours. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
• To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.