Just a week or so ago, I was at the grocery store and found an interesting cookbook for only about five dollars. It boasted having one million combinations of full meals including appetizer, main course, and dessert. Each course took a third of a page, and the different courses folded separately from the other two, making for endless combinations of full meals. For the life of me I can’t remember the actual name of the book, nor can I seem to find it anywhere on the internet.
Now I enjoy baking desserts more than cooking things that are actually good for people. But one recipe caught my eye, and I really wanted to try making it.
The recipe was for Brown Sugar meringues. I remember when I was in Middle School we made chocolate meringues for Home Ec, and I wanted to try making them again.
(Read full instructions before attempting to bake)
The recipe only called for three ingredients: three egg whites, about a cup of brown sugar, and however much whipped cream you like. Like making meringue for a lemon or chocolate meringue pie, you must separate the egg whites from the yolks (I recommend using a small bowl or custard dish and add the whites individually to a larger mixing bowl, if even a little yolk gets into the whites, they will not fluff up) and add them into a medium-to-large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Once they begin fluffing, begin slowly adding the brown sugar, add with a spoonful at a time and wait until sugar is sufficiently blended and dissolved into the mix before adding the next spoonful. Leave some brown sugar left over for sprinkling.
Pre-heat your oven to 225 degrees f, and take two large cookie sheets and line them with parchment paper or wax paper. Using roughly the same portions you would use for placing cookies on a cookie sheet, scoop the finished meringue on the the wax paper. If desired, sprinkle a small amount of brown sugar on to each mount of meringue. Once the oven is finished pre-heating, place cookie sheets into the oven and set the timer for 2 1/2 hours. Half way through cooking time, rotate the cookie sheets to ensure more even baking. Do not open the oven during the first half of cook time, as this can cause the meringues to crack.
After the time is up, remove the meringues from the oven. Allow them to cook for at least 15 minutes. To remove the meringues from the cookie sheets, peel up the parchment paper or wax paper. Attempting to remove them individually by hand can cause them to break as meringues are light and fragile.
The meringues are done!
Overflowing!
You can certainly eat them plain, but they might be a little too sweet if you aren’t in the mood for something sugary. This is where the whipped cream comes in. The recipe suggested sticking pairs of meringues together with a dollop of whipped cream. To add a little more for presentation, I drizzled a little chocolate sauce over the pair.
The meringues themselves almost have a similar texture to a marshmallow you might find in cereal. They had a slight crunch on the outside and the inside melts in your mouth. The whipped cream greatly offset the potentially overpowering sweetness, and the chocolate sauce I chose to drizzle over top added a little variety to the flavour. In the end, it almost tasted like a smore!
The finished product.
Overall, it was a very simple recipe, great if you don’t happen to have a very high budget for making fancy food. And the time it took to make them was totally worth devouring a meringue sandwich at the end.
There are countless different flavours to make your meringues, I just chose to go with the Brown Sugar recipe as shown in the cookbook. Valentines Day is coming up, why not make some strawberry meringues topped with powdered sugar and red sprinkles?
If you decide to make meringues yourself, I would love to hear what you thought about them and see the results. Pictures, please!
