Sweet Secret Pistachio Meringues

Today's recipe is for simple Pistachio Meringues. They are made using the Swiss Meringue technique, which is far more stable than its French cousin. The egg whites are slowly heated with the sugar until they are fully coagulated (meaning the sugar doesn't separate), then whipped to stiff peaks. A little dash of lemon juice and some pistachio oil rounds out the flavour nicely, and a piping bag fitted with a star tip finishes them off.

What's the Sweet Secret? Each cookie hides a little pistachio surprise!

Sweet Secret Pistachio Meringues

An easy make-ahead recipe that's sure to impress. Makes 36 mini cookies.

2 large egg whites

3/4 cups (or 175 ml) of sugar

1/8 tsp (or a pinch) of cream of tartar

1/2 tsp (or 2.5 ml) of lemon juice

1 tsp (or 5 ml) of pistachio extract

A few drops green food colouring, optional

36 pieces of shelled, roasted pistachios

1) Preheat the oven to 250°F/120°C. Line a cookie sheet or baking tray with parchment paper. In the top of a double boiler, or a metal bowl fitted over a pan of gently simmering water, whisk the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and lemon juice until just warm to the touch, about 8 minutes.

2) Remove from the heat, and whip with a mixer until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Fold in the pistachio extract and the colouring, if using. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip.

3) To pipe, arrange the pistachios evenly on the baking tray, then pipe a little rosette of meringue over each one. Bake for about 1 3/4 hours, or until firm and just starting to dry; they should not be browned (if your oven runs hot, reduce the temperature to 200°F/95°C after the first half hour of baking). Turn off the oven, and leave the meringues in for a couple hours or overnight to dry out.

These meringues keep fresh on the counter in a loosely covered tin for up to 2 weeks.

#Dessert #Meringue #Cookie #GlutenFree