Ooey gooey meringues ...

After making my Boston Cream Cake, I had two egg whites left over ... and there's only one thing to do with those! Because of course I'm not one to be wasteful :-) I just had to use them!Absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I have a total weakness for very ooey gooey meringues – the only way meringues should ever be in my opinion.

Total prep time: 20 minutes

Total Cooking time: 1½ hours

Ingredients list

3 egg whites

¾ cup caster sugar (187.5ml)

¹/₈ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp vanilla esseence

(3 egg whites - I hear you say? Well, you see - that's what the recipe calls for - I tried to do the sums to reduce the amount of sugar required if only using two whites, but it all became too hard and so I caved - one more egg white - and about 5 more meringues - guess who wins?)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 100ºC.

Separate your eggs (unless you had left overs like me), beating whites until stiff peak stage - that's when the mixture doesn't drop after you pull the beater out.

Then add the sugar – it’s important that you use caster sugar, not regular.

Start with just one tablespoon, incorporating fully.

Then add the rest of the sugar, with the cream of tartar and the vanilla essence.

Make sure you beat again to stiff peak stage.

Then spoon onto a greased oven tray (again, I use spray and cook).

I use a tablespoon or dessert spoon to pick up the mixture, and push it off the spoon, onto the tray with the back of a teaspoon – this ensures a smooth finish.

Cook for 1½ hours and enjoy.

If you keep them in an air tight container, they should keep well for a while – no idea how long, as around me, they don’t last at all.

Yum!

This mixture made 16 medium sized meringues, but you could make them much smaller.

Variations:

You could spoon all the mixture into a round and serve as a Pavlova with fresh cream and berries – a wonderful summer dessert.

Another, fabulous alternative, is a Strawberry Fool. Make individual meringues, break them up into chunks (kids love doing this), and add to a bowl of whipped fresh cream, with sliced strawberries. Mix gently, and spoon out into individual bowls or glasses. Lovely!