Almond Meringue (Dessert for Mother’s Day)

I made crème brulee for dinner yesterday and got some leftover egg whites. These four leftover egg whites got me thinking of what and how I should do with them. That’s a good problem for me though. Having seen the classic Australian dessert, Pavlov made by Donna Hay on MasterChef Australia, I was aspiring to bake one very soon. Quickly, I changed my mind without any reason and decided to make some mini almond meringues for the coming Mother’s Day.

These meringues can be kept in an air-tight container for quite a long time, or if they turn soft outside, just pop them in the oven and heat them to dry again. There are many variations you can make, for example, spread some chocolate cream between two mini meringues or simply sprinkle a bit of coco powder over the surface of meringues to your liking. It’ll be a great looking present for your mother. Sweet !

Almond Meringue (Dessert for Mother’s Day) (Printable recipe)

Makes 60 meringues (4cm in size)

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites (I used 59 gm eggs)
• 1 tsp cream of tar tar
• 120 gm caster sugar
• 90 gm almond meal

Method:

1. Prepare oven to 180C (356F). After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 90C (195F). Prepare 2 large baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper.
2. In a large clean, stainless steel or glass bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer. (Note: make sure that your eggs are free from any water and oil. It’s very difficult to beat the egg whites and produce a good volume otherwise.) Start with the low speed of your mixer. When many bubbles form, add cream of tartar and continue to beat.
3. When the egg whites turn white and increase in volume. Add 1/3 of sugar at a time. You don’t need to worry whether the sugar is beaten well after each addition. After adding the last batch of sugar, increase speed to high, continue to beat the egg whites until peaks form. When the mixture becomes very thick and glossy (as the picture shown above), all the sugar has dissolved, it’s done. You can test it by lifting up the beater, there should be a long trailing peak forms at the end of the whisk.
4. Sift and fold in 1/3 of almond meal at a time, until all almond meals are completely incorporated. Don’t stir the egg whites. Just scrape the egg whites from the bottom and bring them up to the top. By folding in this way, you won’t loose the air and volume of egg whites. Carefully transfer the egg whites into a piping bag. Pipe out 4cm-sized discs on the lined baking trays. Each with 3cm apart. Transfer the meringues into the oven for 75 to 80 minutes. Then, turn the oven off and let the meringues cool in the oven. It might take a few hours. (Note: In doing so, the outside of meringues are set without any baking at all. So the colour of the meringues is very light, pale or off-white. And the texture of the meringues is very crisp and light in weight.)

Notes:

• Before beating egg whites, make sure the utensils are clean, free from any water or oil. It’s very crucial if you want to beat egg whites successfully.
• You can omit the almond meal if you want to.
• When you fold the almond meal into the fluffy egg whites, make sure to incorporate the ingredients gently without deflating all the bubbles of whisked egg whites. Don’t even stir it. Just scrape the egg whites from the bottom and turn them up on the surface. Repeat the folding with a quick but a gentle motion until all ingredients are just combined.