Mini Meringues

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup ultra-fine granulated sugar
• 2 cookie sheets sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lined with non-stick material

Instructions:

Separate the eggs. You will not need the yolks in this recipe. But don't use egg white product already made in a carton; the consistency is very important to this recipe. It will not work with some types of prepared product. Put the yolks away and then attack the egg whites with an electric mixer. (It will take way too long with an egg beater or a whisk.) What you want is STIFF PEAKS in the egg whites. What that means is that when you lift the beaters out (turning off before doing so of course), the white stands up in a peak and does not fall over. (If it does fall it's a soft peak, and you need to keep going.) What you're doing is forcing air into the mix. So be careful about following these instructions or you will LOSE the air and end up with a liquid again.

Add the ultra-fine sugar ONE TEASPOON AT AT TIME. Whip thoroughly before adding another teaspoon. Once it is ready, it will look like whipped cream. Preheat your oven to 225º F.

Scoop up a teaspoon of meringue and use another teaspoon to dump it onto the tray. Try to make it look artsy if you care about presentation. Probably put 15 meringues on each sheet, and put them in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Then turn off the oven, leaving the meringues inside to cool off VERY gradually.

VARIATIONS



If you want pink meringues (or any other color), add four drops of food coloring to the mix after the sugar is mixed in. You can make one sheet of white and THEN add the coloring (only two drops) if you'd like to make half and half.
Add extracts and food coloring to get different tastes. This is a mix of cherry, orange, and lemon meringues.

After adding sugar and achieving mix, put it into a cake decorating bag and squeeze into fun shapes before baking!

Take heavy whipping cream and whip until stiff and spreadable. Spread some cream on the back side of one meringue and then stick another on top. Eat like a sandwich!

All of these should be stored in an airtight container and eaten within a week, but the ones with cream should be eaten the same day you make them and refrigerated.