Meringue Kisses

As there were 3 egg whites left after making a zabaglione, it is not a surprise that I made some meringues. 

Actually, I made meringue kisses at least that is how we call them in Hungary. I made two sorts: one with nuts, peanuts and almonds, the other one with dried cranberries and cinnamon.

MERINGUE (KISSES)

INGREDIENTS

3 egg whites
15 dkg powder sugar

Whisk the egg whites above boiling water. Add the sugar, when the egg whites reached a foamy state. Whisk further until it becomes nice and shiny. Divide it into two parts.

For the MERINGUES WITH NUTS add 5-10 dkg mulled nut, peanuts and almonds and whisk it gently.

For the MERINGUES WITH CRANBERRY add 5-10 dkg finely minced dried cranberries and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

There were tons of tricks and hints on how to bake meringues. First, I tried 80 degrees (175 Fahrenheit), but nothing happened after 1 hours. Then I tried 100 degrees (210 Fahrenheit), but still no luck. I lost my patients and went up to 130 degrees (265 Fahrenheit). Now the meringues got little bit brownish, like on the picture.

Based on all experiments the ideal is 110-120 degrees (230-245 Fahrenheit) in a convection oven. After 30-45 minutes, when the meringues are no more stuck to the baking paper, turn off the oven, open the door just a little bit and wait until they cool down.