marbly meringue

Why am I stuck on a marble theme at the moment? I have no idea, so I'll just roll with it until something else comes along.

So, this is my latest marbly creation, an adaptation of the Divine Chocolate Book chocolate meringues.

These are meant to be served as mini meringue mountains, but Eaton Mess was the order of the day & I wanted to do something a little more exciting than plain meringue. Knowing that this meringue was going to have a meeting with a rolling pin as soon as it had cooled, I didn't bother with making mini's, I just blobbed it right out of the bowl, onto the tray.

With a little bit of necessary fiddling with oven temperatures during cooking, the meringue couldn't have turned out more perfect.

Now, I don't know about you, but both John & I love meringue that it as chewy as possible - the joy is in the chew rather than the crunch - wouldn't you agree?

Unwittling, adapting the temperature during cooking & changing the cooking times seemed to be the perfect little trick for getting the texture right. In the recipe, I'll give you the official times stated & the Hannah times, so you can choose, depending on what you prefer.

chocolate meringue
ingredients
100g chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
3 egg whites
a pinch of cream of tartar
175g caster sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 120C / Gas mark 1/2 / 250F

2. Break up the chocolate & melt in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave. Once melted, remove from heat
3. In a clean mixing bowl, whist the egg whites until almost stiff, then pour in the sugar & cream of tartar & whisk briefly until stiff. (my mixture was not particularly stiff, which might also have affected the overall texture)

4. Drizzle the chocolate over the meringue mixture, then fold in using a metal spoon. To make the most of your marbling, only fold 3-4 times.
5. Scrape the meringue mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, in one big old heap. Or, if you'd like to make smaller meringues, dollop dessertspoons-full onto the tray, evenly spaced.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for two hours until firm. (the official way.)

or...
Bake for 30 minutes at 120C then increase the heat to 140 and bake for a further 60 minutes, putting the meringue on a low rack in the oven, then remove after this time. (the Hannah way.)
I then smashed up the meringue in the most loving way possible, and ate it with strawberries & cream. Yum.

Cake Count :: 679