Make fun Rainbow Meringue Pretzel Rods, recipe makes approximately 22 large meringue pretzel rods. Recipe will yield more pretzel sticks when using thinner pretzel sticks.Serving 2 pretzel rods per person
Into a clean heat-resistant bowl, pour egg whites ( 6 egg whites), add cream of tartar (1 teaspoon) or lemon juice/vinegar (1 teaspoon), and whisk in granulated sugar (1 cup and 1/2 cup, 300 grams). Heat mixture over a pot with simmering water, stirring with a whisk constantly. Heat until all of the sugar is completely dissolved. The mixture will look white, soapy, and hot to the touch—about 5 minutes.Rub the mixture between your fingers to test if the sugar is dissolved. Once it's smooth, you can remove it from the heat.
Transfer to a stand mixer or use a handheld mixer. Beat at medium speed and gradually increase to medium-high. Beat until stiff peaks are formed, then beat in Vanilla Extract (1 teaspoon) and cornstarch (2 tablespoons). Your meringue is now ready to be used.
Make Rainbow Meringue
Spoon about 2/3 cup of the stiff white meringue into six bowls—color meringue with gel food colors.TIP: Use gentle folding to the color meringue; stirring will deflate the meringue considerably.
Prepare Rainbow Meringue Pouch
Layer a few pieces of wood wrap on a work surface. Then spread colored rainbow meringue onto the food wrap. Follow the order of the rainbow from red to purple. Then spoon and spread the remaining white meringue onto the rainbow layer. Form a pouch. Lift the end of the food wrap away from you and fold them over, so you form a pouch. Twist the ends and tie one end.
Prepare Piping Bag
Fit a large 16-inch piping bag with a star tip 8B. The tip needs to be large enough so the pretzel stick can go thru it. Trim the untied side of the meringue pouch and insert it into a piping bag. Gently push down the meringue in the piping to get
Pipe Meringue onto Pretzel Sticks
Pipe rainbow meringue onto the pretzels. Insert the pretzel rod into the piping bag thru the piping tip. Keep the pretzel stick straight, so it doesn't touch the walls of the piping bag. Pipe meringue on the stick while slowly turning it with the other hand, or use a drill as suggested in the blog post.
Bake Rainbow Pretzel Sticks
Bake meringue at 175F for 3 hours, then turn off the oven and leave it until it cools. Then store immediately in an airtight container. See recipe notes for more storage ideas.
Notes
HOW TO STORE MERINGUES? - Store meringue immediately after cooling in an airtight container, layered between pieces of parchment. I like to store mine with a small bowl of raw rice or food-grade silica gel packets.
CAN I USE OTHER FLAVORS? - Sure, you can use other flavorings, but be sure to use water- or alcohol-based flavorings.