Italian Meringue Cookies (Spumini)
Servings: 16 meringues
Ingredients
- 75 g Egg whites, room temperature approx 2 eggs
- ¼ tsp Cream of tartar see notes
- 150 g Caster sugar (superfine sugar)
Instructions
- Pre heat your oven to 100℃ (212℉) -use convention setting, not fan-forced (see notes)
- Line 1-2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or baking paper (I use 2 large baking sheets)
- In the mixer bowl of a stand mixer, place the egg whites and cream of tartar
- Using a hand mixer on low to medium speed, whisk the egg whites until foamy and beginning to form soft peaks (I use the hand mixer first, as it's a small amount of egg whites and it's harder to whisk with the stand mixer at the start)
- Place your mixing bowl onto your stand mixer and using a whisk attachment, whisk on low to medium, while slowly adding the caster sugar to the whipped whites, 1 tablespoon at a time (leave 30 seconds between each spoonful)
- Once all of the sugar has been added, stop the mixer and scrape the side of the bowl with a silicone spatula
- Now mix the meringue on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until it forms stiff peaks and is nice and glossy. Check that there are no large granules left, by rubbing a little of the meringue between your thumb and finger. You want a glossy, marshmallowy meringue here
- Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, then pipe out your meringue cookies. I pipe enough mixture to make a round mound, then pull the piping back down and flick it back over the cookie, to create a slightly oval shape
- Bake in the oven for 2.5 hours (for crispy, hard meringues) or 1.5 hours for a softer centre
- Turn off the oven and leave the meringues to cool, with the oven door slightly ajar
Notes
- Make sure you are whisking your egg whites in a clean bowl. Any trace of oil will prevent the whites from whipping, so give the bowl a quick wipe out before you start.
- Don’t over whip your egg whites, as it will dry them out. You just want soft peaks before adding the sugar
- Adding the caster sugar one spoonful at a time means your sugar dissolves into the egg whites, creating a gorgeous glossy meringue
- Mix only on low-medium and medium speed. You don’t want too many air bubbles whipped into the meringue, or it can collapse
- Avoid opening the oven door while the meringue is cooking, as it can lead to cracks in the meringue
- Baking without the fan will give you lovely white meringues
- You can adjust the bake time according to the size of your meringues. If you want smaller meringues, they will crisp up much faster