Something a little different....

So in the spirit of the holiday season, I tried something a little different - meringues! Who knew they were so easy?! I found a recipe that was simple and got a little creative with it. I know some of the recipes use cream of tartar and other stabilizers but I didn't really find all that necessary. These turned out light and melt-in-your-mouth perfect!

For the record, I had a 3 year old helper decorating these so the candy cane coating is imperfect but that's what holiday cooking is about in our house!

Maybe I should have tried some of the stabilizer ideas for other flavors because here's what it looks like when I tried to make a dark chocolate version. I think the chocolate bits melted the egg whites a little. These were crispy and delicious if not as pretty to look at as the other guys.

I also made some with an eggnog extract that turned into complete ruin in the oven. There are no pictures because it looked too gross to share!

But the best flavor was by far candy cane! I made several batches of these. And, I think this would work with any hard candy so you could do several flavors. Imagine a Butter Rum! Mmmm......OH! Sorry, I might have drooled on the keyboard a little!

And don't let the thin chocolate turn you off. The taste was great. You could add cocoa powder to this recipe and it would turn out just as pretty. As you know I like to go overboard with the chocolate and that's what caused the meltdown.

Anyway, here is the recipe I used for candycane flavored meringues. This made enough to fill my oven and I usually threw away quite a bit too so you can decrease as necessary. The reason I always made 6 egg whites is that's what I had leftover from making cakes conviently enough. You may be able to make this with the Meringue Powder sold in stores, but I haven't tried. Since the eggs are cooked, I think using real eggs are okay, but that's just my opinion. I know some people are scared of eggs. I don't judge you if you don't judge me.

Meringues Recipe (adapted from AllRecipes)

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper. This is a necessary step as they are pretty hard to get off the sheets and you don't want to use any kind of grease.
2. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites and vinegar to soft peaks. Gradually add salt and sugar while continuing to whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Spoon into piping bag with large star shaped tip. Pipe into small mounds about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet. Sprinkle candycanes over top of the meringues.
3. Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow to remain in oven for several hours or overnight to dry out completely.

If you try some flavors I didn't think of, let me know. I'm always interested in new ideas!