Chai meringue rosettes and shadows

The photoshoot for these beauties was somewhat moody. I’m usually a light and airy kind of girl, but combining the light and airy meringues with an overly bright scene seemed too much. So I played around with shadows.

And I liked it!

It’s been pretty rainy this past week in Sydney, so the shadows were easy to find. I think that the moodiness of the photoshoot was slightly brought on by all the rain (it’s hard to be super chirpy when the weather keeps you cooped up indoors.)

Even Norman was more sombre than usual…which is ridiculous, because he’s the world’s most laid-back dog.

But these meringue rosettes (and a few little pieces of good news) brightened my day. The chai in the meringue lends them a spicy undertone that is a nice change for meringues, which are usually saccharine.

Try these dainty little treats, they’re gloriously sunshiny.

Chai meringue rosettes:

Makes 34

•          4 egg whites
•          1 cup sugar
•          2 tsp club cinnamon Bondi chai
•          2 tsp cinnamon sugar

When I made chocolate swirl meringues, I suggested that people wipe down the whisk attachment and bowl of their mixture with half a lemon to remove residual fats. I always do this because fats can flatten meringues.

Whip your sugar and egg whites together. 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.

Add your chai powder after about 5 minutes. Keep whipping until the mixture is thick and glossy. It should take a further 3-5 minutes after adding the chai. When you’re done, the your mixture to hold soft peaks.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star shaped nozzle. Starting at the centre of the rose, pipe two full spirals to recreate the rose look.

Sprinkle the uncooked meringues lightly with cinnamon sugar. If you don’t have any cinnamon sugar lying around, make your own by combining two tsp of granulated sugar with ¼ tsp of cinnamon.

Pop them onto your lined baking trays and bake for 40-45 minutes – you’ll know they’re done when they’re dry to touch. I erred closer to 40 minutes and the inside was still soft and chewy – if you don’t want this, leave them in for longer.

Transfer to a cooling rack and devour once cool.