meringue madness

Ever since I picked up a new cookbook on Saturday, I have been churning out meringues - vanilla meringues in miniature sweeps and swirls, and some bigger slightly-bigger-than-golfball sized ones with ribbons of chocolate. I have been seized with a kind of goofy madness, especially when you consider I don't really like to eat meringues! But the recipe was fun, and I loved squeezing out those mini-meringues with turrets and curly tops. And late one night, I did rummage through the kitchen and finished off the meringues while watching Iron Chef.

I got this recipe from a cookbook called "got milk - the cookie book" by Peggy Cullen ( who writes for Saveur and Martha Stewart Living), and I loved her chocolate marblizing idea for the golfball sized meringues.

To make:

First of all, look out the window and read the weather forecast, because if it's raining or very humid, you cannot make meringues.

Fit two baking sheets with foil or parchment.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2 ounces unsweetened or dark semisweet chocolate

2 large egg whites at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

scrapings from a vanilla bean, if you have one

1 1/2 t. sifted cornstarch

Melt the chocolate in a microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until smooth and melted when stirred.

Set chocolate aside.

Beat egg whites in a mixer bowl until foamy and white, and you get soft peaks when you lift the beater. Then start adding the sugar ONE TEASPOON AT A TIME. If you dump it all in too fast, the meringue batter won't work.

Beat whites and sugar until stiff and shiny, then add the vanilla, vanilla scrapings, and the cornstarch. Beat briefly.

Using a large spoon, drizzle chocolate over the top of the egg whites. Do not mix in.

Take a small ice cream scoop and scoop across the lines of chocolate and whites to make a ball of meringue. Place on baking sheet.

Continue to scoop across the chocolate drizzles and placing balls on baking sheet. When you need more chocolate, just drizzle more on top of the now depleted bowl of meringue, until used up. You will have some chocolate left over.

Place baking sheets in oven and bake for an hour and 20 minutes.

Turn off oven and let meringues sit in oven until cool.

(If you find the meringues are still a little sticky on their insides, just run into a 200 degree oven for another 15 minutes - this will work even if you do it the next day)

Fancy Mini-Meringues for decorating or teatime

Just make the meringue above without the chocolate. Using a spatula, scoop into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and make small circles ( twice- sort of a two story circle) ending by pulling up quickly to make that curlicue top.

Meringues should cool completely before placing in a tightly closed tin.

Serve mini-meringues with a bowl of - say, strawberries or other fresh fruit, or as a terrific decoration on a cake. Or, of course, piled onto a plate for that late night snack!