Day 16: Mini Merengue Trees

I had so much fun making little merengue ghosts at Halloween, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of a twist and make some mini Christmas trees.

These are very tasty and fun to make and are a lovely treat to spruce up a Christmas table. I made this batch up for our Christmas party and they went down really well. They are also a very nice light treat after a heavy Christmas meal!

Hope you like them!

Mini Merengue Trees

This recipe makes about 40 small trees at 22 calories each.

 

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Ingredients:

  • 4 medium egg whites (about 125g)
  • 1 cup castor sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp. vinegar
  • 1 tsp. cornflour
  • green food colouring (use a bit extra because it fades when baked)
  • sprinkles (optional)

Preparation:

  1. Preheat the oven to 105 C.
  2. Separate the egg whites.
  3. Place egg whites in stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on low-medium speed until egg white form firm peaks. This will take a little while.
  4. Keeping the mixer on a low speed, slowly add the castor sugar one tablespoon at a time.
    • The result should be a glossy white finish with soft peaks.
  5. Fold in the vanilla, vinegar, cornflour and food colouring and then give a whisk on medium slow for about 30 seconds if the mixture has become too liquidy. dsc_0091
  6. Scoop the merengue into a piping bag with a 1/2 inch plain tip. In my case I used a sample bag (yay archaeology) that I had cut a 1/2 inch hole in.
    • Careful not to handle the merengue too much so it doesn’t loose all the air in it.
  7. Pipe out your trees onto a lined baking tray. This is really nice because they will all look slightly different.
    • Use a bit of merengue under each corner to keep the sheet in place. dsc_0093
  8. You can then add sprinkles if you want to decorate your trees.
    • I did this for a few of them, but I didn’t like the sprinkles I had so I left most of them without.
  9. Place in oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the merengue has dried out and the outside is crips and very slightly golden (you will notice that the outside of your trees will lighten in colour a bit).
  10. Let sit in the oven to continue drying for a few hours if you can manage to wait to eat them.

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Hope you enjoy your little merengue Christmas Trees!

Here is an easy to print version.

Mini Merengue Trees

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium egg whites (about 125g)
  • 1 cup castor sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp. vinegar
  • 1 tsp. cornflour
  • green food colouring
  • sprinkles (optional)

Preparation:

  1. Preheat the oven to 105 C.
  2. Separate the egg whites.
  3. Place egg whites in stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on low-medium speed until egg white form firm peaks. This will take a little while.
  4. Keeping the mixer on a low speed, slowly add the castor sugar one tablespoon at a time.
    • The result should be a glossy white finish with soft peaks.
  5. Fold in the vanilla, vinegar, cornflour and food colouring and then give a whisk on medium slow for about 30 seconds if the mixture has become too liquidy.
  6. Scoop the merengue into a piping bag with a 1/2 inch plain tip. In my case I used a sample bag (yay archaeology) that I had cut a 1/2 inch hole in.
    • Careful not to handle the merengue too much so it doesn’t loose all the air in it.
  7. Pipe out your trees onto a lined baking tray. This is really nice because they will all look slightly different.
    • Use a bit of merengue under each corner to keep the sheet in place.
  8. You can then add sprinkles if you want to decorate your trees.
    • I did this for a few of them, but I didn’t like the sprinkles I had so I left most of them without.
  9. Place in oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the merengue has dried out and the outside is crips and very slightly golden (you will notice that the outside of your trees will lighten in colour a bit).
  10. Let sit in the oven to continue drying for a few hours if you can manage to wait to eat them.

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