- 24
- Average
- 15 mins
- 35 mins
- 10 mins
- Average budget
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites at room temperature
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
Preparation
Step 1
Position rack in upper 1/3 of oven and preheat to 325 degrees C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or non-stick sheets. Clean your mixing bowl with lemon juice or vinegar, then rinse with cold water and dry thoroughly.
Step 2
Separate egg whites. Cold eggs are easier to separate, but room-temperature whites attain more loft when whisked. Separate the eggs while cold, and then let the whites stand, covered, at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before beating.
Crack eggs on a flat surface, such as your countertop, rather than the edge of a bowl. This reduces the chance that a shard of shell will puncture the yolk.
Carefully separate 1 egg into two small bowls -- one for the yolk, one for the egg white. Evaluate the egg white to determine if it's free of impurities before adding it to a larger mixing bowl. Repeat process, working with 1 egg at a time. With this strategy, if a little yolk lands in a white, you'll contaminate only one white, rather than the entire batch.
Step 3
Beat whites at medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Add ¼ cup of sugar 1 tbsp at a time and beat until egg whites shiny, but not dry.
Step 4
Sift cocoa, cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup sugar together. Sprinkle 1/2 of mix over whites, and using a rubber spatula, gently fold in just until blended. Repeat, folding in remaining cocoa mix, then fold in pecans.
Step 5
Spoon mix into pastry bag fitted with ½ inch star tip. Pipe mix onto prepared sheets into 1 ¼ inch rounds or drop by teaspoonfuls. Hold the bag at the top and squeeze lightly so you don't deflate the meringue mixture. (If the meringue doesn't peak, it was probably overwhipped.) And don't touch the tip of the bag to the parchment paper or you'll lose volume.
Step 6
Bake cookies until set, about 35 minutes. To determine exactly when a baked meringue is done, lift it off the baking sheet. If it pulls up easily, it is ready. If not, continue baking, checking for doneness every few minutes. Cool slightly, then using a spatula, gently transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.
Use fresh egg whites. Old egg whites tend to collapse when other ingredients are folded in, and they don't rise well in the oven.
Use eggs at room temperature. Cold egg whites tend to reduce meringue volume.
Never let any yolk get into the whites.
When whipping egg whites, always start your mixer on medium-low to medium speed. Beat them until foamy and increase the speed to medium-high and then to high. If the egg whites are beaten too quickly at the beginning, the structure of the foam will not be as strong, and later the egg whites will not beat as high as they should.
A small amount of cream of tartar or vinegar can be added to the mixture at the beginning of whipping to help stabilize the foam and make it less likely to collapse.
Don't use plastic bowls – they can retain a film of fat from previously mixed or stored items that can deflate the meringue.
Don't make meringues on humid days.
Bake meringues at low temperatures because they tend to brown quickly.
Leave hard meringues in the oven after baking so they will cool slowly and not crack.