Gilded Low-Fat Meringue Cookies
I was inspired by the arrival of the Heilala vanilla and as luck would have it, a friend’s daughter’s wedding was the next day. I thought what would be a pretty, delicious treat suitable for a romantic day? I came up with the idea of incorporating the Heilala vanilla extract with fat-free meringues and dusted them with edible metallic gold dust. The bride and her bridesmaids snacked the morning away while getting their hair done and the lightness of the meringues didn’t fill them up too much for the big day ahead. These are perfect for an elegant look on a buffet table.
Vanilla Meringues with Gold
Author: Dédé Wilson
Makes: about 40 meringues
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pastry bag
- ½-inch round tip such as an Ateco #806
- Dry, small, soft artist brush
- Edible gold dust
Instructions
- Position racks in upper and lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
- Beat egg whites with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until firm peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes longer. Beat in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract.
- Scrape meringue into pastry bag by fitted with the ½-inch tip. Pipe 1 ½ to 2-inch “kisses” onto prepared sheets, spacing 2-inches apart.
- Bake meringues for about 2 to 2½ hours or until completely dry. Cool pans on racks completely. To dust with gold, simply dip dry brush into gold powder and alternately sprinkle some gold dust on top of cookies, or gently pat the gold powder onto the cookies (experiment with various approaches for different looks). Store cookies in single layers in airtight containers up to 4 days.
Bakepedia Tips
- Any edible metallic powder will work well here – try silver, bronze, etc.
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