69 Citrus Meringue Bites

Another (I think) great recipe to treat your guests during Easter holiday. I thought about doing them because of the mazurek (Polish Easter cake), for which I needed four egg yolks. Not wanting to waste the egg whites, I have decided to make my first ever meringue. I must say, it was tougher than I thought, especially that they should be baked in a precise temperature and my oven makes it impossible for me (it’s so old, I cannot read what’s the  temperature since the number disappeared long ago, I’m depending on guessing).
To my surprise, they turned out very nice. And the flavour! Lemon juice and orange peel transformed the usually dull and way-too-sweet meringue into a genuine art piece!
Nothing better for an Easter dessert than lighter than feather mini meringues ^^

CITRUS MERINGUE BITES

INGREDIENTS

4 egg whites
220g sugar
1 tsp potato starch
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
orange zest (grated from two oranges)

HOW TO MAKE?
1. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees. Prepare a baking tray: grease it with butter and line it up with baking parchment.
2. Add the egg whites to a big bowl and beat them up with your electric mixer, until you get fairly thick foam. Start adding sugar, spoon by spoon, mixing well after each addition. Don’t add too much sugar at a time. After you’ve added all the sugar, keep mixing constantly for about 3 minutes, before you start adding the rest of the ingredients.
3. The foam should be very stiff, thick and shiny. Don’t reduce the sugar because the meringue might not turn out nicely.
4. Add the potato starch and lemon juice now, mix it again, for about 1 minute.
5. Add the orange zest and stir it in with a wooden spoon, doesn’t have to be perfectly incorporated.
6. Using a teaspoon, form little bites of meringue on your baking tray. Put in the oven and bake for 25 minutes in the temperature of 120 degree Celsius. After that time, decrease the heat to 100 degrees Celsius and bake for another 45 minutes. This way your mini meringues will be crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.

7. You an also serve them with caramelised oranges or marmalade, or just on its own. I’m sure you and your guests will enjoy them anyway ^^

 

Smacznego,
aho