21.10.13

'Blood' splattered meringue bones

A few weeks ago the Nottingham Evening Post asked me to submit a recipe or bake that would feature in their Halloween themed weekend pull out. I have soooo many Halloween ideas pinned and I decided that this would be the ideal opportunity to give something new a try.

I wanted to submit a fairly easy bake that people could create with their kids so I chose the easiest recipe I know - meringue!

These Halloween bones are simple to make and would look great on any Halloween dessert table, you could even dust them with cocoa powder for an aged look or add food colouring to your mix and make some multi coloured witches bones.

I used red food colouring for the blood splatter effect but I'd recommend serving them with a fruit coulis for dipping as meringue and fruit always pair well, and the coulis would give an excellent dripping blood effect.

The secret to making perfect meringues is to ensure your baking tools are grease free, any additional of grease in your meringue will prevent that lovely stiff peak that you need to pipe these bones. To prevent this, I wipe down all of my tools with lemon juice which removes traces of oils.

I also leave my baked meringues in the oven overnight to 'dry off' so once the baking time is reached I just turn the oven off and leave the meringues untouched on their baking tray. This makes a lovely crisp meringue with a truly chewy centre.

The kids will love these bones, and whilst mine were about 10cm big you could make them much smaller and just reduce your baking time.

Halloween Meringues bones (makes approx 20 x 10cm long bones)
  • 4 x egg whites at room temp (I used Two Chicks free range egg white)
  • 1/2tsp cream of tartar
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 120g icing sugar
  • 1tsp vanilla extract (or any flavouring of your choice)
  • Food colouring (optional)
Method
  1. Preheat your oven to 100c/210f. Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
  2. Place egg whites and cream of tartar into your mixing bowls and whisk on high until the mixture forms stiff peaks. This might take a while so if you're using a hand mixer - just be patient!
  3. Slowly add caster sugar beating well after each spoonful addition. Your mixture should start to look shiny.
  4. Fold in sifted icing sugar by hand using a metal spoon so as no to remove all that lovely air from your mixture.
  5. Spoon mixture into a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe bone shapes - I started by piping two 'S' shapes and then connecting them with a line.
  6. Bake in the oven for approx 1hr or until the bones sound hollow when tapped from underneath. Be careful when peeling your bones off the baking sheet as they can be fragile.
  7. Once baked, turn off the oven and leave overnight. This step is optional and you can serve them straight away but I like my meringues to have a nice crunch on the outside and I think this step helps that.
  8. Store in an airtight container for up to 1wk or a freezer for up to 1 month.
I'm entering this bake in the Calendar Cakes - Something Wicked this way comes event hosted by Dolly Bakes and Laura loves cakes so be sure to stop by and find some other fabulous Halloween themed bakes!

 photo liana_zps73adbf6c.png

1 comment:

  1. Imade some beetroot savoury sones this weekend to go with my vegan GHOULash, wish I had seen these too. Wow, these are so delicate, I am keeping them in mind for next year now.

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