As the Domestic Goddess herself succintly puts it, it is hard to believe that "out of nothing more than egg whites and sugar comes a creation as spectacular as meringue". This, out of her latest book Nigella's Kitchen (a home run as usual - honest insights - love her kitchen gadget hall of shame list, and the always prosaic descriptions of the pleasures of the food she cooks).
Brown sugar lends a caramelly stickiness to these babies. I also reduced the amount of sugar to one cup in total - half ordinary caster and half light brown, which I whirred in the food processor to a fine dust texture.
Nigella cooks up a frangelico caramel sauce for these, but I am afraid after tasting these I am of the opinion that they really don't need any more embellishment.
And - here's the thing - after the first batch of meringue blobs went into the oven I folded in a generous two tablespoons of cocoa into the meringue mixture - resulting in something totally different - chocolaty sticky, really rich-tasting cookies that one would associate with the use of butter and cream and chocolate bars, not egg whites and cocoa. Miracle indeed.
Coffee Brown Sugar, Cocoa Meringues
Adapted from the recipe in Nigella Kitchen
Makes 8 - 10
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
2 tsps instant espresso powder
pinch cream of tartar
4 egg whites
Preheat oven to 150 degC.
Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a clean stainless steel bowl until they are beyond foamy and soft peaks have started to form.
Add the superfine sugar one tablespoonful at a time, whisking all the time, until a glossy thick meringue forms.
In a blender/food processor, process the brown sugar and coffee powder to fine dust.
Add to the meringue mixture a tablespoonful at a time, whisking all the way, until the meringue is the colour of "oyster silk lingerie"
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out dollops of meringue (about 2 big soup spoonfuls) to give 2-inch diameter circles of meringue.
Spike of fluff the tops as you go to give texture.
Put in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, by which the meringues should be dry on the outside, but still gooey on the middle, and a little fragile to the touch.
Take out of the oven, leave to cool on the baking sheet.
Brown sugar lends a caramelly stickiness to these babies. I also reduced the amount of sugar to one cup in total - half ordinary caster and half light brown, which I whirred in the food processor to a fine dust texture.
Nigella cooks up a frangelico caramel sauce for these, but I am afraid after tasting these I am of the opinion that they really don't need any more embellishment.
And - here's the thing - after the first batch of meringue blobs went into the oven I folded in a generous two tablespoons of cocoa into the meringue mixture - resulting in something totally different - chocolaty sticky, really rich-tasting cookies that one would associate with the use of butter and cream and chocolate bars, not egg whites and cocoa. Miracle indeed.
Coffee Brown Sugar, Cocoa Meringues
Adapted from the recipe in Nigella Kitchen
Makes 8 - 10
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
2 tsps instant espresso powder
pinch cream of tartar
4 egg whites
Preheat oven to 150 degC.
Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a clean stainless steel bowl until they are beyond foamy and soft peaks have started to form.
Add the superfine sugar one tablespoonful at a time, whisking all the time, until a glossy thick meringue forms.
In a blender/food processor, process the brown sugar and coffee powder to fine dust.
Add to the meringue mixture a tablespoonful at a time, whisking all the way, until the meringue is the colour of "oyster silk lingerie"
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out dollops of meringue (about 2 big soup spoonfuls) to give 2-inch diameter circles of meringue.
Spike of fluff the tops as you go to give texture.
Put in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, by which the meringues should be dry on the outside, but still gooey on the middle, and a little fragile to the touch.
Take out of the oven, leave to cool on the baking sheet.
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