Meringue disaster

I attempted to make meringues for the first time today and let me say - it's easier said than done. It all seemed so simple! Mix together some basic ingredients, whip it up until it is firm, light and fluffy, and bake it in the oven for multiple hours.

Everything was going well until I came to the whipping part. I had decided to substitute sugarless maple syrup for brown sugar, in an attempt to pre-diabetes proof the recipe. Unfortunately, this substitution seems to have done something to upset the rising power of the meringue.

I began mixing. And mixing. And mixing. According to the instructions, after around 5 minutes, the mixture was supposed to have firm mounds in it... but this was not the case. Many minutes of mixing later, the mixture wasn't rising the way it was supposed to and it ended up a liquidy mess.

I decided to just go with this and I poured the mix, with grapefruit juice in it, into a baking pan with a thick lip on the sides to keep the meringue in. I hoped that this would create a meringue-cake-like-dish. I baked it according to the instructions.

I ended up with what I can safely term an excellent start towards baking an actual meringue. The result was an edible, if not SUPER delicious meringue-cake-like creation. I have to say I'm kind of proud of myself for salvaging such a disastrous situation!

RECIPE (courtesy of Martha Stewart at marthastewart.com)


Ingredients

Makes about 1 Dozen

• 5 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated grapefruit zest
• Pink gel-paste food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Put egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar into the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water.Whisk until mixture is warm and sugar has dissolved.
2. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high, beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
3. Transfer half the meringue to another bowl. Using a rubber spatula, stir orange zest into 1 bowl of meringue. Stir grapefruit zest and pink food coloring into remaining meringue.
4. Place a 3 1/4-by-3 1/2-inch heart-shape cutter in one corner of a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a small spatula, fill heart with meringue; swirl. Push down edges of meringue with the spatula, and lift up cutter. Repeat, spacing meringue hearts 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
5. Bake until meringues are firm and can be removed easily from parchment paper, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Meringues can be stored between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.