Raspberry meringues and simple joys

Not too long ago I posted a recipe for chocolate swirl meringues as an accompaniment to your Valentine’s Day – there is something about meringues that I equate with romance. Maybe it’s the intense amounts of sweetness, or their crisp lightness? Whatever the reason, you should definitely treat your loved ones to some meringue bites, because they’ll love you dearly for it!

People of all ages go a little weak at the knees for meringues, because they’re such a simple pleasure – egg white, sugar and joy.

Seeing as you’ll have four egg yolks left over after making these delightful mouthfuls, why not make chocolate nutella pots de crème to go along with them?

Raspberry meringues

Makes 50

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 60g frozen raspberries
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Sugar hearts, to decorate

Before you start whipping up your meringues, wipe your whisk attachment and bowl down with half of a lemon. Just swirl the lemon around and then wipe off the excess. This will remove any residual fats that may be lurking, and threatening to flatten your meringues!

Whip your sugar and egg whites together – I’d recommend using a stand mixer or a hand mixer because it’s far more efficient! Start on a lower speed (I went for 3 on my stand mixer) and speed it up a notch at a time (up to about 8) over the course of a minute; I find that this method gets the most air into the meringues.

While the egg whites whip up, preheat your oven to 120°C and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Keep whipping until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture turns white, thick and glossy. This should take about ten minutes. Your mixture should hold soft peaks and should stay in place if you turn the bowl upside down.

While the egg whites are whipping up, pop your raspberries, water and sugar into a small saucepan over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the raspberries have started to collapse. Turn the heat up for a minute to thicken the mixture into a lumpy syrup. Set aside to cool.

When the meringue is ready and the syrup is cooled, alternate spoonfuls of each mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star shaped nozzle. You’ll need to spoon about two tablespoons for each teaspoon of raspberry syrup, because too much syrup will threaten the shape of the meringues when you’re piping. Try and spread your syrup towards the edges and into crevices so that it distributes nicely among the piped meringues.

Pipe a spiral onto your lined baking trays*, top with some sugar hearts, then bake for 70-80 minutes – you’ll know they’re done when they’re dry to touch. Transfer to a cooling rack and devour once they’re cooled!

To accentuate the raspberry flavour, dip the bottom of the meringues in melted chocolate and refrigerate for ten minutes before serving.

*Martha has a tutorial for how to pipe the spiral shape (fast forward to 3:06.) If you want your meringues to cook in 50-60 minutes, don’t pipe in a spiral, just pipe dollops like these.