Brown Sugar Meringues

I honestly believe that brown sugar meringues are far superior to caster sugar meringues. These have a caramelly, almost treacley flavour to them, depending on the sugar you use, which I find preferable to the generalised sweetness of a white meringue. Brown sugar is not normally used for fine French patisserie so I'm not going to pretend that this recipe meets French standards, but it is very delicious and reliable.

I generally don't keep white sugar in my house because I find brown sugar to be tastier and much more versatile. I also have an obscene amount of baking and confectionary supplies and my cupboard space is at a premium. So I prioritised and decided that multiple types of flour was more useful to me than multiple types of sugar. Even for simple things like sweetening coffee I find that brown sugar is just better, so why bother with white?

The exception to this is when I am planning a gift for someone that requires white sugar, usually confectionary. Because frankly, it is NOT ok to give brown Peppermint Creams to anyone. Seriously, no-one wants that.

The easy rule to remember here is to use equal quantities of egg white and sugar. You can very easily make these meringues with just equal quantities of egg white and brown sugar, but I added icing sugar to mine to provide some extra structure since I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it until it was in the piping bag.

If you are planning on using brown sugar meringue to make a large or structural thing like a pavlova or an intricately piped creation, it is a very good idea to include the icing sugar. From my experience, brown sugar can sometimes make a slightly softer meringue that does not retain piped designs as well as white meringue. For small meringue 'kisses', the icing sugar is not essential.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

Electric Hand Whisk (or a normal balloon whisk and arms of steel if you insist)

Big Mixing Bowl

Baking Paper/ Reusable Baking Sheets

Piping Bag

INGREDIENTS

80g Egg White (this was 2 eggs)

60g Soft Brown Sugar (Use the finest grain texture that you can get hold of)

20g Icing Sugar

(* Or just 80g Brown Sugar)

1) The first rule of meringues is always make sure there is no chance of any fat getting into your egg whites. There cannot be any trace of egg yolk and you must make sure your mixing bowl and whisk are perfectly clean. Wipe them down with a clean, dry tea towel for good measure to make sure there is no residual grease.

2) Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 1 or your lowest heat setting. Sieve your icing sugar and make sure there are no lumps in the brown sugar. Have these near by with a teaspoon ready.

3) Put your egg whites into your sparklingly clean mixing bowl and whisk them until lightly frothy. Add a single teaspoon of sugar and continue whisking until it is incorporated. Continue adding sugar a teaspoon at a time.

4) Once all of the sugar has been whisked in, you should have a light, fluffy, marshmallowy textured meringue that stays put when you turn the bowl upside down. It will leave pretty, billowing trails and hold peaks.

5) Spoon this straight onto the baking paper if you prefer a more rustic look, otherwise use a piping bag.

6) Roughly, small meringue kisses need to bake for half an hour, meringue nests for one hour and a pavlova for two and a half hours. Use your judgement here. Ideally your meringue will be crisp on the outside and slightly chewy in the middle.

These are very delicious eaten as is, or you can make them into a dessert with whipped cream and fruit. I turned mine into festive themed mini pomegranate pavlovas.