Keyword: baked meringue, flower meringues, meringue cookies, pastel meringue cookies
Servings: 12
Author: Hani
Ingredients
Meringue
4egg whites (120 grams)
1cupsugar (200 grams)
2tsplemon juice or vinegar or 1 tsp cream of tartar
1tspVanilla Extract
Food Colors
pink, sky blue, purple(if you don't have purple, mix pink and sky blue)
Instructions
Prepare Baking Sheets
Trace 3-inch circles onto the parchment paper ( use a glass or cookie cutter to make even circles ). Turn the parchment so the ink is facing down. Secure the parchment onto a cookie sheet. Put a little Crisco in each corner of the baking sheet to keep the parchment from sliding. Set aside.
Clean the Bowl, Wire Beater and Utensils
Wipe tools and bowl with white distilled vinegar. Wipe dry.
Meringue
Whisk egg whites (4 egg whites), sugar (1 cup, 200 grams)) and lemon juice ( 2 teaspoons) in a bowl of your mixer. Place the bowl over the pot of simmering water. Stir with the whisk until all the sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Rub the mixture between your fingers to check if the sugar is dissolved. If you feel graininess, continue whisking until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Transfer the bowl with a soapy egg white sugar mixture onto the mixer, beat on low speed, and gradually increase speed to medium-high. Beat until soft peaks are formed, then beat in vanilla extract. Continue beating with a wire attachment until glossy and thick meringue has formed. Meringue should hold the stiff peak.
Color Meringue
Divide stiff and glossy meringue into three portions. Color each portion with different colors: pink, purple, and blue. Fold the color into the meringue. Fit a large piping bag with the Wilton 2D piping tip. Fill the piping bags with colored meringue. Place all 3 piping bags filled with colored meringue into one large piping bag fitted with the piping tip 2D. Press onto the piping bag until all three colors come out of the nozzle.
Pipe Hydrangea Cookies
Pipe hydrangea meringue following the template circles. 1st pipe stars in a circle then fill in the center. Repeat until you used all of the meringue.
Bake Meringue Cookies
Bake meringue cookies at 175F for 3 hours. Then turn off the oven and leave the cookies to cool in the oven. This can take 2-4 hours. Take the cookies out of the oven and peel them from the parchment. Immediately store the meringue cookies in an airtight container layered between parchment. Place a small bowl with uncooked rice into the container. Rice helps to keep cookies crisp. Store cookies at room temperature for up to 10 days or freeze for three months.
Notes
Can I Freeze Meringue Cookies? You can freeze meringue cookies in a freezer-safe container for 3 months. Layer meringue cookies between parchment Defrost meringues on the kitchen counter for 3 hours. Don’t open the container while defrosting.
Meringue Cookies Troubleshooting
Weeping
Causes: over beating of the meringue or cookies are underbaked.
Remedy: add more sugar or add 1 to 2 tablespoons of corn starch to the meringue at the end of the mixing. It stabilizes the meringue.
Cracks
Causes: meringue is beaten at a very high speed. Or meringue was baked at high temperature.
Remedy: beat it at medium–high speed. Lower the temperature.
Beading
Causes: this can happen when sugar in the meringue is not completely dissolved, or the meringue was baked at a high temperature.
Remedy: Make sure sugar is dissolved completely. Lower the oven temperature.