Salted caramel meringue sandwiches
I absolutely love meringues – they’re so much fun to make and they’re really not difficult. The wonderful Amy of She Cooks, She Eats makes the most incredible meringues (seriously, check out her recipe for chocolate meringues) and it was she that inspired me to get the beaters out and make some of my own. These are lovely to serve to friends coming for tea and they’re quick and easy puddings too!
I like to pipe my meringues because I find piping very satisfying, but you can just as easily heap these on a baking tray for a more natural, rustic effect.
for 10-12 meringues (5 or 6 meringue sandwiches) you need:
- 3 egg whites
- 180g white caster sugar
- 1 tsp cornflour (optional – this will make your meringue more mallow-y)
- 5 or 6 dessertspoons of salted caramel (I recommend making your own)
- Prepare a two baking trays with baking parchment and preheat your oven to 120°c.
- Using an electric whisk or standmixer, beat your egg whites on medium for several minutes until they’re big, white, and fluffy. You want them to be stiff but not dry – so don’t overbeat. They should still be soft.
- A dessert spoon at a time, add the sugar to the mix and beat on medium. When half of the sugar is incorporated, add the cornflour and turn the speed up to high and keep adding the sugar slowly until you have a thick, smooth, and glossy mixture. Don’t overbeat it – if you beat it too much it will liquefy and be useless. You’re looking for stiff peaks when you lift the beaters out of the bowl. It shouldn’t move when the bowl is turned upside down. Be careful with this trick – don’t attempt it unless you’re confident it won’t drip out.
- Pop your meringue mixture into a piping bag with a medium to large star nozzle and pipe out onto your baking sheet. You can make them big or small – your choice.
- Pop them in the oven and bake for an hour and 15 mins. When they’re hard to the touch, they’re done. They should be off white in colour. Turn the oven off and leave them in there, with the door ajar.
- When the oven (and therefore the meringues) are cold, they’re ready for sandwiching! If you don’t need them right away, store them in an airtight container. They keep pretty well – around a week. Don’t put the caramel on till you’re ready to eat them, as the bottom can go soggy ahead of time, which isn’t ideal.
- When they’re ready for eating, spread a layer of salted caramel over the bottom of a meringue, and stick another meringue to it. Try and pick one of similar shape and size!
- When they’re all sandwiched up nicely, serve! :)
- Enjoy!