Sunday, November 14, 2010

Meringue Ghosts - a little late in the game. Nonetheless.

When I came across this recipe for adorable little meringue ghosts I knew two things: 1) I had to make them for my friend Amy and 2) I could make them because I had made similar yummy treats before (also for Amy.)

Time passed. Halloween came and went. No meringue ghosts materialized.

However, I knew they would. I just knew they would. Eventually. Amy and her husband are hosting a dinner party this evening. My husband has to work so I was going to get a babysitter and go all by myself. I'm so totally OK with that. What I am never OK with is taking my three children anywhere by myself, but especially into a confined area with countless breakable items, short fences to climb, gobs of food to continuously ask for then spread all over the floors in the house. No, I don't have hoodlums for children - at least not most of the time - but I am outnumbered, by a long shot. Amy is currently pregnant and although she does not understand my fear now, one day she will. She is very accommodating though and I appreciate her lots!

However, the babysitter won't be in town and now I am unable to go. That's OK. I'll make the next one. The ghosts are still going to be guests though.

Meringue Ghosts:

4 large egg whites (120 grams)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup superfine or caster sugar, also called Baker's Sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take 1 cup granulated white sugar and process it for about 30 seconds in a food processor)
 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 
So it began: the egg separation. Egg separation makes me nervous. The tiniest smidge of yolk and your whites will not form peaks - just ain't gonna happen. Trust me on this. It only took me a waste of one egg and I had all four eggs separated.
Then the mixing. No problems there but make sure your bowl and the wisk attachment are spotless. I have even heard of rubbing lemon juice over these items just to make sure there is no oil to ruin everything. I didn't do that. I'm lazy.

Blah blah I whipped and added the cream of tartar. You know I always thought it was "tarter?" Ya, no clue. Glad I never said it out loud to anyone. Then slowly added the sugar - the gobs and gobs of sugar!

I used almond extract instead of vanilla. I just really like the flavor of almond. You can use whatever flavor you like. I was even thinking of using some of my newly acquired pumpkin extract but thought: that could go horribly wrong. Almond it is.


I have a great 12" reusable pastry bag that I just love so I shoveled the egg/sugar goo into the bag not using a tip and shaped some really cute mounds. Took me an entire row to get the hang of it but I was pleased.  As you can see, one of them, well, he just didn't make it.



The recipe calls for these adorable little candy eyes that can be found at specialty or craft shops. Luckily, it also gave the alternative to use mini chocolate chips. So I began inserting the eyes.
They came out really cute. I put them in the oven at 200 degrees for 90 minutes. Then I turned the oven off and let them hang out at least another 30 minutes.

Sadly, not gonna lie, the centers were still not done. If I recall correctly what I have done in the past is to bake them at night. Then when they are done baking I turn off the oven and leave in the oven all night long. Or was that the biscotti...

I'm really not sure what went wrong. They had these little crystal bubbles of sugar coming out of their sides. I've never seen that before. Since I don't think I have a firm grasp on whipping eggwhites to the proper peaks, I wonder if that's what it was... I just didn't whip them enough. Or maybe too much? I don't know. But I get really bummed when something I bake goes wrong. I'm hoping for another redemption - is that even the correct word? They are back in the oven where they will remain for at least another two hours.  Ugh. I bet it was the whipping issue.

On a side note, here are my two oldest watching patiently the "scary ghosts" in the oven.


Postnote: Yippee! I think I discovered the culprits. I googled "what went wrong with my meringue" and came across this blog entry from 2009 on the subject.  It appears I did at least two things wrong: I don't think I let the egg whites become stiff enough before adding the cream of tartar [huh huh she said stiff], and i think I added the sugar wayyyyyy too fast. So I am currently letting my next pack of eggwhites come to room temp to try it again.

Stay tuned!

What a difference a little knowledge can do! I did it all again, this time waiting much longer to begin adding the extra ingredients. I also took several minutes to add the sugar, adding only one tablespoon at a time. And I decided to use peppermint extract instead. It just tastes really dang good.
When I was piping them on the pan they were super huge and fun to work with. These are going to look so adorable at the party tonight. I hope people will still eat them, even though they are looking at you. 





So here are the rejects. Poor things. I hate to keep saying that out loud, but really. What else can I do?
I apologize for these last two pictures. My camera battery died as I was starting round two.



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