Chocolate Raspberry Meringues

It has been so cold and dry here that I naturally started to think about meringues. The less humidity, the better the odds that I could successfully experiment with them. I have been in a particularly mad scientist-y kind of mood lately.

The Technique & Recipe

I began with my egg-separating station. I got four eggs out of the fridge and needed their whites. To have perfect meringues, you must make sure there is no yolk that breaks into the white.

Luckily that did not happen to me because the eggs were still cold which makes them easier to separate. Had a yolk broken, I would have to have discarded both the yolk and the white.

I put the egg whites into my super clean mixing bowl (oil is not good for whipping eggs whites) and put it in my microwave with a glass of hot water. This helped warm up the egg whites since it is pretty darn cold these days. I let it sit for at least half an hour.

Never make meringues in a hurry!

I decided to add the raspberry flavoured oil that I got at the Bulk Barn to my meringues. According to The Science Of Good Cooking, oil should never be involved when it comes to making meringues. Good thing I did not read that until AFTER I made mine!

In a bowl combine 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar with 2/3 cup sugar.

In another bowl sieve 2/3 cup icing sugar and 1 tbsp of cornstarch.

Once egg whites have warmed up, add a pinch of salt and begin whisking together.

Keep whisking everything starts to get foamy.

I like to whisk them until they get to a soft peak.

Slowly and gradually add the sugar/cream of tartar mix 1 tbsp at a time to the egg whites.

It will eventually get all shiny and get to hard peak stage.

I carefully folded in the icing sugar and cornstarch. Then I folded in 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips and a few drops of raspberry oil.

I used my ice cream scoop to divvy out the the dough onto parchment-lined trays and bake at 225F for around two hours.

I let the meringues cool on the trays on top of a cooling rack. You know they are done when they are crispy on the outside and can easily be picked off the parchment in one piece.

Foodie Results

I LOVED these! I actually made these for Reg because the two things he loves most are chocolate and raspberries and I had eaten four of these before he came home for the day.

The oil made these a little crunchier and after sitting out for a day or so, almost like toffee. Next time I experiment, I will use less cornstarch but will try another flavouring oil for fun. The chocolate raspberry combination was absolutely lovely.

Yes, there are foodie rules that help but sometimes ignorance is foodie bliss. Yum…