Ghostie meringues

Here’s a quick and super easy bake for Halloween 🙂

(I originally wanted to make them marshmallow-filled, but I couldn’t get my hands on any suitable sized/shaped ones for this occasion)

This is just a simple vanilla meringue*, piped and baked at 100C for 40 minutes, then decorated with melted chocolate. I used the end of a chopstick to get those perfect little eyes and mouths, which worked out really well in the end.

*using a ratio of 1:2, egg whites:caster sugar

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites
• caster sugar (double the amount of the weight of the egg whites)
• vanilla extract/essence
• melted dark/milk chocolate (a few squares should do it; you only need a tiny amount)

Method:
(Makes approx 25 ghosts)

1. Pre-heat oven to 100C, and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks.
3. Slowly by slowly, add the caster sugar and whisk between additions.
4. Keep whisking until glossy, stiff peaks are reached, and the sugar has dissolved (rub some mixture between your fingers. If it feels grainy, keep whisking until smooth).
5. Add a drop of vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
6. Pipe kisses onto the lined baking tray.
7. Bake for (approximately) 40 minutes.
8. Allow to cool gradually – it is best if you turn the oven off, but leave the meringues in there until completely cool.
9. Decorate with chocolate, drawing on two eyes and a mouth.