'Tis the season to be jolly! Especially with marshmallow, peppermint, and chocolate! These meringues come together so quickly, they are baked in under an hour, and they stay lovely and spongy for days. You can fill them with your favourite chocolate, or even a softer type of candy. Basically, anything that will melt and stay soft will do the trick. You can add the flavouring to the whole batch, or you can just add it to the pretty, coloured swirls, for just a hint of peppermint.
Ingredients
1 medium egg white
¾ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon cornflour (corn starch)
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
100 grams chocolate, cut into nine pieces
food colouring, if desired
Preparation
Take a large glass bowl, pour in the egg white and the vinegar, and mix with an electric mixer on high, until frothy. Once frothy, start adding in the granulated sugar, a tablespoon at a time, mixing constantly on high. Mix for about 20 seconds between each tablespoon of sugar, to ensure the sugar melts nicely. Once all of the sugar has been incorporated, add in the cornflour, and the peppermint extract, and continue mixing on high for another minute or so. The mixture should hold stiff peaks, and be glossy.
Spoon the meringue into a medium piping bag fitted with a large round piping nozzle, and pipe nine little meringue dots on a large baking sheet lined with baking paper, then place a piece of chocolate on it, to keep it in place. Pipe swirls of meringue around each chocolate piece, to envelop it. Bake them in a 100°C (200°F) oven for about 35-40 minutes. Remove them from the oven (they should come off the paper really easily once they are properly baked) and serve. Yields 9 medium meringues.