Mushroom Meringues

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces


Preparation:

  • Grease two large cookie sheets and flour lightly.
  • Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy and double in volume. Add almond extract and sugar (1 tbsp. at a time) beating until sugar dissolves completely.
  • Attach # 10 plain tip to a pastry bag and spoon meringue into pastry bag.
  • To make mushroom cups: press out meringue in 1-1/2 inch rounds; smooth top of each with a knife, but don't flatten.
  • To make steams: hold pastry bag upright, then press out meringue, pulling straight up on bag for about 1-1/2 inches.
  • Bake in very slow 250 F (120 C) 30 minutes or until firm, but not brown.
  • Let stand several minutes, than loosen carefully with a knife; remove to wire racks with spatula and cool completely.
  • Melt a chocolate; than working very carefully make a small hollow in the underside of each cap. Fill hollow with melted chocolate and press steam into hollow.
  • Let stand until chocolate is firm. Sprinkle tops with cocoa. Store in a tightly covered container in a dry place.

MERINGUE TIPS: 

Critical factor in making a successful meringue is humidity, so make them on a dry day. Meringues made on a humid day can become limp and sticky because sugar is hygroscopic and will absorbe moisture from the air.

For faster beating and maximum volume, you should add sugar between the beginnings of foam formation and soft peak formation. If you add some or all of the sugar before beating or to early in the beating, you will decrease volume.

Real Cooking
Did You Know?
Most of the rich, heavy cakes should be baked on the middle rack of the oven. Do not crowd the cake pans together because the cakes will not cook evenly.

When baking in a glass pan, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees.

To keep angel or chiffon cakes from falling, turn them upside down as they come from oven until they cool.

When baking with melted chocolate, always let melted chocolate cool slightly before blending into the rest of the creamed mixture and also try to scrape the sides of bowl frequently with rubber spatula.

To easily split a layer of a cake in half, take a length of thread and wrap it around the middle of the layer than pull the ends together. It will make a nice level cut without any fuss.