Artful Advice

Meringue Girls' Recipe for Metallic Christmas Trees

Merry treats from the egg-whisking experts.

We love meringues and no one makes them more marvellous or more colorful than the egg-whisking geniuses at Meringue Girls. So when it came to finding a recipe befitting of our Technicolor Christmas issue, they were top of the wish list.

Enjoy their bright and delicious recipe for metallic Christmas tree meringues.

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Ingredients for about 30 trees
Egg whites of 5 large free-range eggs
1 and 1/3 cups superfine/baker's sugar
Open star nozzle (we use JEM 2ES)
Gold star sprinkles
Edible luster
Vodka

Method
Start by getting everything ready. You'll need two trays – a large baking tray and a roasting tray. Line both with baking paper. Preheat your oven to 350℉. Pour the superfine sugar into the roasting tray. Put your egg whites into a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment and prepare a piping bag fitted with your open star nozzle.

Place your sugar in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. While it is, turn your whisk on to its lowest speed and start mixing then gradually crank up the speed, allowing small, stabilizing bubbles to form. Continue to increase the speed until you have stiff peaks (and your mixer is on high). This should take about the same time as your sugar. Take the sugar out of the oven and turn the heat down to 210℉, leaving the oven door open to help cool it down. The sugar should now be hot to the touch.

With the whites stiff and whisk going at full speed, add one big tablespoon of the hot sugar after another to the meringue mixture, pausing for a few seconds between each spoonful. Be sure to bash out any big lumps of sugar before adding into the mixture as these could get stuck in your nozzle.

Once you have added all the sugar, continue to whisk for a minute or two. You will know that the meringue is done when it forms a nice, smooth, shiny, peak on the tip of your upturned finger.

Get the meringue into your prepared piping bag, hold the piping bag with both hands, placing your dominant hand at the top of the piping bag and your other halfway down the bag. Use the top hand to apply pressure and the lower hand to control where you are piping.

Squeeze the bag 3 times to form a tree shape, making sure the base is the widest layer. Pipe the rest of your trees, finishing them off with a star on each tip and bake in the oven at 210℉ for about an hour or until they come off the baking paper and the bases are solid.

To decorate, mix up your luster with some vodka until you get a smooth paint-like consistency, and using a paintbrush, paint on stripes and leave to dry.

TA-DA!


Discover more merry meringues at Meringue Girls.


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