Mermaid Tail Meringue Cookies

I hope mermaid desserts always stay in style. Whether you are planning a birthday party, bridal shower, baby shower or sleepover party – these light and airy pastel-colored Meringue Tail Meringue Cookies bring childhood fantasies and fairy tales to life.

MERMAID TAIL MERINGUE COOKIE POPS RECIPE

Gluten-free meringue cookie pops are easy to make. Follow my step-by-step tutorial on how to make glittering mermaid tail meringue cookies.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MERMAID TAIL MERINGUE COOKIES

• Egg Whites
• Sugar
• Cream of tartar or lemon juice (optional, but recommended)
• Vanilla Extract
• Gel Food Colors: teal/aqua, electric pink, regal purple (if you don’t have purple, you can use sky blue and electric pink to make purple)
• Lollipop Sticks
• Large 16-inch Piping Bags
• Piping Tips: star piping tip #21, petal tip #103 or #104
• Gold Luster Dust Mist Spray
• Mermaid Tail Piping Template – Sign up for Haniela’s Newsletter and Get a FREE Mermaid Tail Meringue Cookies Template

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PREPARE MERINGUE

First, you need to prepare the meringue. I heat sugar and egg whites over the pot of simmering water to dissolve sugar granules. The soapy mixture is then beaten into stiff peaks using a wire beater (step 1). After, stiff meringue is divided and colored with gel food colors (step 2).

HOW TO COLOR MERINGUE

To color meringue, I use concentrated gel food colors – teal, regal purple, and electric pink (step 1). First, I smear the gel color across the top (step 2). And then, I carefully fold the color into the white meringue. To get more depth and dimension, I didn’t fold the color into the meringue homogeneously; I kept it marbled with streaks of white. White meringue creates highlights that add depth to the piped fluke and mermaid’s body (steps 3-6).

PREPAPRE PIPING BAGS

To pipe mermaid tails, I used 2 piping tips: star piping tip #21, and for the mermaid’s body I used petal tip #103, or you can use petal tip #104.

Fit a large piping bag with a star piping tip and fill it with teal-colored meringue (steps 1-3). Fill a piping bag fitted with a petal tip with pink and purple meringue, alternating colors (steps 4-6).

HOW TO PIPE MERMAID TAIL MERINGUE COOKIES

Have a mermaid tail template ready, place it onto a baking sheet, and layer a parchment on top of it. Pipe a straight vertical line with teal meringue across the middle of each mermaid tail (steps 1-2). Gently push a lollipop stick into the meringue (step 3).

Pipe the fluke with teal meringue, pipe 6 strokes, 3 on each side (steps 4-8).

Pipe the mermaid’s body with a piping bag with a petal tip filled with purple-pink meringue. Hold the piping bag with the narrow end of the petal tip facing the fluke. Move the piping bag back and forth to create a ruffled look. To make a shimming finish on the meringue, use gold luster dust in a pump and spray freshly piped mermaid tails (steps 6-8).

BAKE MERINGUE COOKIES

Pipe as many mermaid tails onto a baking sheet as possible. Before putting the baking sheet into the oven, remove the template from underneath the parchment.

• Bake meringue cookies at 175F (80C) for 3-4 hours.
• Turn off the oven and let the cookies cool in the oven for about 1-2 hours.
• Meringue cookies are usually not hard and crispy right after baking. They need to cool off for a bit to become hard and crispy. Cookies get crispier and harder as they cool.

Sign up for Haniela’s Newsletter and get a FREE Mermaid Tail Template

Cookies are baked when they are easily lifted from the parchment in one piece. Sometime when they are not fully baked the base will stick to the parchment.

HOW TO STORE MERINGUE COOKIES

Keep baked meringue cookies away from moisture. Store or package cookies immediately in clear poly bags or an airtight container. When storing them in an airtight container, I add food-grade silica gel packets or a small bowl with raw rice to keep the meringue cookies crisp.

MERINGUE COOKIES SUCCESS TIPS

• Weeping
  • Causes: overbeating of the meringue or cookies are underbaked.
  • Remedy: add more sugar or add 1 to 2tbsp corn starch to the meringue at the last stage of the mixing. It stabilizes the meringue.
• Cracks
  • Causes: meringue beaten at very high speed. Or meringue was baked at high temperature.
  • Remedy: beat meringue at medium-high speed, lower the baking temperature, and increase baking time.
• Beading
  • Causes: this can happen when sugar in the meringue is not completely dissolved or meringue was baked at high temperature, or it was baked for too long.
  • Remedy: Make sure sugar is dissolved completely. Lower the oven temperature.
• Chewy Texture
  • Causes: high baking temperature, underbaked meringues -not baked for long enough.
  • Remedy: adjust the oven temperature.
• Overbrowning
  • Causes: dark baking sheet, high baking temperature.
  • Remedy: use light-colored baking sheets, lower the temperature, adjust baking time.
• Meringue is not stiff
  • Have you added acidic ingredient? Cream of tartar, lemon juice or white distilled vinegar loosen tight protein chains in the egg whites, allowing you to beat in more air and making the meringue more stable.
  • Beat meringue at low speed at first and then increase speed to medium-high. Don’t beat the meringue at the highest speed setting.
  • It can take 10 minutes with a stand mixer to reach stiff peak. Be patient.
  • Maybe fat has gotten into the egg-white mixture? Wipe the tools with vinegar before before mixing the meringue.

MORE MERINGUE DESSERTS

• Succulent Meringue Wreath Cake
• Fall Pumpkin Meringues
• Rainbow Meringue Pretzel Sticks
• Lilly of the Valley Meringues Cookies
• How to Make Meringue Nests via Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen
• Holiday Pinecone Meringues
• Christmas Poinsettia Meringue Cookies

Print Pin

Mermaid Tail Meringue Cookies

This recipe makes about 12 mermaid tail cookies.

Serving size: 1 cookie

Course Candy, Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American, French

Keyword meringue cookie pops, mermaid cookies, mermaid meringue cookies, mermaid tail cookies, mermaid tail meringue cookies

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 hours hours

Servings 12 servings

Author Hani

Equipment

• handheld or stand Mixer
• Piping bags
• mixing bowls
• baking sheet
• spatula
• piping tips: star#21, petal tip #103 or #104
• lollipop sticks
• gel food colors: teal, electric pink, purple

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites (120 grams)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
• 1 tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice/vinegar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Meringue

• Into a heat-proof bowl pour egg whites (4 large egg whites,120 grams), granulated sugar (1 cup, 200 grams), cream of tartar, or lemon juice (1 teaspoon).

  Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, and whisk egg whites with sugar and cream of tartar until all of the sugar is dissolved about 5 minutes.

  TIP: Rub the mixture between your fingers to check if the sugar is dissolved.
• Secure the bowl onto your stand mixer and beat the egg white mixture with wire beaters. Start at low speed, then gradually increase to medium-high. Don't beat meringue at high speed.
• When medium stiff peaks are formed add Vanilla Extract (1tsp) and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. When the peak doesn’t fall down or bend you are ready to go.

Color Meringue

• Divide stiff meringue into three bowls—color meringue with pink, purple, and teal gel food colors. Carefully fold the gel food color into the meringue so it doesn't deflate too much.

Piping Tips

• To pipe the mermaid tail, use star tip #21 and petal tip #103.

  Fit a large piping bag with a star tip and fill it with teal-colored meringue. Fit the second piping bag with a petal tip and fill with purple and pink, alternating colors.

Pipe Mermaid Tail Meringue Cookie Pops

• Place the mermaid tail template onto the baking sheet. Layer parchment or a silicone mat on top. Pipe a straight line with teal meringue vertically and across at least half of the mermaid's tail. Press the lollipop stick into the meringue.

  First, pipe the fluke with teal meringue (star piping tip), and then pipe the body with pink-purple meringue (petal piping tip).

Bake Mermaid Tail Meringue Cookies

• Bake meringue cookies at 175F for 3-4 hours, turn off the oven, and leave the cookies until the oven cools.

Notes

• How to Store Meringue Cookies? Store in an airtight container. To remedy humidity, add food grade silica gel packet or raw white rice to the container.
• Can I Freeze Meringue Cookies? You can freeze meringue cookies, in an airtight container, layered between parchment for up to 3 months. Let cookies defrost on the counter for several hours. Don’t open the container during this time.