Meringue Mushrooms 2 Egg whites 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar 100g caster sugar 1/4 cup white

white chocolate food colouring

1. Preheat oven to 120 degrees Celsius. Line two baking trays with aluminium foil or baking paper. Spray lightly with oil. Place two oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. 2. Put egg whites in a large, very clean bowl. Add vinegar to the egg whites and beat with an electric beater until the foam becomes very stiff. 3. Add the sugar gradually and continue beating until the mixture is thick and glossy and will stand in stiff peaks. Test whether the sugar has dissolved completely by rubbing a little of the meringue between your ngers). Add a little colour. Divide the meringue into 3 bowls and colour each one with a couple of drops of food colouring. Fold the colour in using a spatula. 4. With a rubber spatula, spoon the meringue into a piping bag tted with a 1cm plain nozzle. Drip a few drops of food colouring down the side of the piping bag, if you want to create a coloured stripe. Hold the piping bag at a 90-degree angle about 1cm from the tray. Using rm and even pressure, squeeze out round meringue discs that are approximately 4cm wide onto one of the baking trays. Stop squeezing, then twist the bag and lift it from the meringue to get a clean break from the cap. Make sure to leave plenty of space in between to spread. 5. Pipe about 20 smaller blobs onto the other tray for the steams. Again position the bag perpendicular about 1cm from the baking sheet. Begin squeezing the bag to form a 2.5cm round base. Continue to squeeze as you slowly and evenly draw the bag up, forming a tapering stem about 4cm tall. Use the remaining meringue to pipe as many stems as possible. 6. Bake the meringues in the pre-heated oven for about one hour, or until the mushrooms are rm enough that they can be lifted from the baking sheet without sticking. Rotate the baking trays from top to bottom and front to back (about 45 minutes in) to ensure even baking. Remove from oven and transfer the meringues to a cooling rack. 7. To assemble the mushrooms, melt the white chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave. Use a toothpick to carve a small hole in the bottom of a mushroom cap. Dip the top of a stem in the white chocolate, and gently stick the chocolate-covered stem top in the hole of the mushroom cap. Place the mushroom on a baking tray to set, and repeat with remaining caps and stems. *Mushrooms can be stored for up to a month in an airtight container in a cool, dry room.