Bake Vintage Vic's Super Easy, Never Fail Meringues...

Recipe and picture taken from Sainsbury's magazine.

***

One of the things that I love, and yet  so far, have not talked about here on my blog is cooking and baking.

Baking in particular.

Being self taught, still with many things to learn, I am very keen to find new recipes to try.

This has opened the flood gates and now I have a wonderful and ever growing collection of cook books!

Many years ago, my Grandmother used to make the most lovely meringues I had ever tasted.

She cooked them in her airing cupboard, over a period of days!

Sadly, she did not leave her recipe written down and in any case, I do not have an airing cupboard!

Then I discovered a step by step recipe for meringues in a Sainsbury's magazine.

The writer claimed that they would be 

"Smooth and glossy on the outside, gooey and chewy on the inside - patisserie-style meringues, nothing less than heavenly."

I decided to take the challenge and see for myself if their claims were true.

That was a while ago and I have used this recipe many times since then.

Every time without fail, they have lived up to their claims. People have even asked me if I bought them in a posh bakery...Really they are that good and so easy to make.

One time recently, whilst making these meringues, I was chatting with my son and only too late realised I had failed to add the last egg white and had made the mixture with only 5 and not 6 egg whites. I was cross with myself and assumed I had ruined the whole batch. However, when they came out of the oven they were fine. A little sweeter and slightly heavier than usual, my family still devoured them and asked for more. Their only complaint? That I had not made as many as usual!

So here we go. Follow these 6 easy steps and you will see for yourself!

1. Preheat the oven to 120C, (248F, Gas mark Half) or for a fan oven 100C, (212F,  Gas mark Quarter)

Then in a grease-free bowl separate the whites from the yolks of 6 medium-size eggs. (Separate each into a small bowl first, so that if the yolk breaks, it does not ruin all of the whites.) 

2. Using an electric hand mixer beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

3. Slowly add 330g caster sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue whisking until all sugar is combined and the mixture is thick and glossy.

4. Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper. Fix in place on the tray by placing a small blob of meringue in each corner under the paper.

5. Using a large metal spoon, drop about 6 large blobs of mixture on the paper, on each tray. (This depends what size you wish them to be.)

6. Bake for 2 hours, then turn the oven off and leave in the oven for a further hour. Once cooled, the meringues will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

That's it...couldn't be easier! Let me know how you get on!

Back soon,

Vicki x