Meringues are tasty, though not really my favorite dessert cookie.  But meringues covered in chocolate?  Uh, yes please.

Meringues are another one of those cool easy-to-make cookies.  They can require as few ingredients as you want (egg whites + sugar = GO!), and the biggest pain is beating them into submission.  And that’s only a pain if you don’t have a stand mixer (but I know most people don’t).

I spruced up this basic meringue recipe by adding in some green food coloring for St. Patrick’s Day flair, and dipping them in chocolate.  After my fantastically successful Rum Ball experiment, covering things in chocolate always seems like the right thing to do.  Don’t come too close – I might cover you in chocolate too.

This is a nice last-minute recipe you can put together right-quick and not look lame at your St. Patty’s Day party.  Just make sure you allot yourself ~1-2 hours for baking; these things are delicate and shouldn’t be rushed too terribly.  If you do rush them they either burn (which isn’t awful in this case, since any brown parts will be masked by chocolate), or turn out hollow like mine unfortunately did.

 

Despite them being hollow, though, they’re still tasty.  They’re light and sweet with an excellently complimentary chocolate covering.  Plus they look very shamrock-like!

For n00bs: What constitutes “stiff white peaks”?  When think of properly whipped stiff white peaks, think of a whipped substance that firmly holds its shape.  As a test, I typically use 2 standard rules:

1. When you lift the beaters from the bowl, the whites should follow with them to a point, and stay there (IE, be “stiff”).
2. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down without the egg whites falling out.  Please do this carefully, as you may or may not end up with half-beaten egg whites on your head.

Chocolate-Covered Meringue Shamrocks

Adapted from Joy of Baking.

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5ish drops green food coloring
• 8oz unsweetened chocolate (you may prefer regular chocolate if the bitterness isn’t your thing)
• 1 tbsp shortening (thanks Katrina!)

Instructions:

1. Beat the egg whites until just frothy.
2. Add in the cream of tartar.
3. Add the sugar about a tbsp at a time, beating each in thoroughly until stiff white peaks form.
4. Beat in the vanilla and green food coloring.
5. Put the batter into a piping bag or a gallon Ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and pipe 3 circles  in a shamrock pattern.  Place the shamrocks ~1inch apart on a parchment paper covered pan.
6. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour (this is how my meringues ended up hollow – I suggest instead 200 degrees for 2 hours).
7. Let cool for 5-10 minutes on a cooling rack.
8. Once slightly cooled, melt the chocolate in a double boiler, then blend in the shortening.
9. Dip the meringues in the chocolate and make sure they’re completely covered – be sure to get the sides of the shamrocks as well, as I ended up with a few with bare edges.  Lift out with a fork onto a piece of parchment paper.
10. Refrigerate until chocolate is hardened.