Festive Meringues

Anyone who is keeping track might have noticed that I missed Day 10 of my cookie challenge yesterday. It was the first truly crisp winter day and so I took advantage of it by heading outside, finishing my holiday shopping and exploring my neighborhood. Best part? I got holiday greens and built some holiday centerpieces.

Unfortunately, by the time I got home the sun had fallen and there was no more optimal light for photos. I’m quite picky about photos so December’s limited light has been a huge pain. I’m seriously looking forward to the days getting longer and my being able to take photos past 3:30pm.

While perhaps not actually cookies, meringues simple appearance makes them easy to customize to match the season.

I go through so many egg yolks when I make ice cream that I’m constantly looking for creative ways to use up my egg whites. I can only eat so many egg white omelettes.

Macarons were a good outlet for egg whites but they are labor intensive and unpredictable. Not a great combination because when I put a lot of work in, I like to see somewhat reliable positive results. While similar to macarons, meringues are less temperamental so success rates are much higher. You’re hooked already, aren’t you?

It isn’t much of a secret that I love Food Network and can watch Chopped for days so it won’t surprise anyone to hear that I get a monthly subscription to Food Network Magazine. This month, the magazine featured a spread on festive meringues so I knew I had to get in on that.

While only half of these turned out without cracking, I made so many of these that I ended up with enough to make it worth it. I’ll be continuing to try different meringue recipes during the holidays because I love the beautiful effect the white meringues have with the red and green sprinkles.

Martha Stewart has a great guide on successfully making meringues that I would suggest reading before starting out.

Festive meringue recipe ideas: