{Christmas Food} Mini Meringue Kisses

Hello again! I hope you are enjoying your Advent and finding lots of inspiration… just like I have, with these Mini Meringue Kisses. These would make a really sweet gift presented in a cute box or jar for Christmas. They also make good snacks for those little sugar cravings (not sure if I'm meant to own up to that though!) I made them for a little tea party my sister and I held and they went down really well with our guests. I can see why: they are very visually appealing and taste very sweet!

The recipe is found here on the Good Food Channel. I found that the instructions could have been more thorough and the first batch I made in green didn't work. So I'm writing my slightly changed version here.

Mini Meringue Kisses

3 large or 100g egg whites

100 g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

100 g icing sugar

pink, blue or green or yellow liquid food colouring

•    Preheat the oven to 80C/60C fan/gas mark ¼. Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

•    Before you start, make sure that the bowl you are using is completely clean and grease-free. Put the egg whites plus a pinch of salt into the bowl and start whisking at high speed with an electric mixer.
•    As the egg whites are stiffening, slowly sprinkle the caster sugar into the mix. Keep testing the meringue to see if it is ready, it should form stiff peaks and hold still if you pick it up and hold it over your head!

•    Add the vanilla extract and slowly fold the icing sugar into the meringue mixture using a rubber spatula. Be really gentle and careful not to deflate the mixture and lose all the air you just put into it! 

•   Separate the meringue mix into three equal parts. Keep the first white, and add a few drops of your desired colour into the others. Slowly and carefully swirl the colouring around with the end of a teaspoon. 

•   Place a star nozzle in to three piping bags then fill each one with a different coloured meringue mixture. Pipe little circles about 1-2cm in diameter onto the baking trays lined with greaseproof paper.

•   Place the meringues in the preheated oven for between 2–3 hours or until they have fully dried out.