Mushroom Meringue - little bits of perfection!!

Meringue Mushrooms are meringue cookies made to resemble a mushroom. Meringue mushrooms are adorable cookies, whether eaten by themselves or whimsically decorating a Christmas log (Buche de Noel).

I am now obsessed with mushroom meringues, I absolutely love them!! There are times I get obsessed with recipes but that is what makes me a better pastry chef.

I decide that all of a sudden my life depends on making the best croissant ever and I spend days doing it.

They are super easy to make and you can put them in a cornacopia  basket or a vegetable basket and give them out as a gift or have them decoate your Christmas buffet, they are adorable and tasty at the same time. They look more realistic the less you fuss with them. How nice is that?

If you try this recipe or not, I would love to know what you think, please leave your comments below.  Happy Baking :) Chef Bren

Meringue Mushrooms in the Cornacopia I made for Thanksgiving

Meringue Mushrooms Recipe:

3 large egg whites (3 ounces or 90 grams)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup (150 grams) superfine or caster sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take granulated white sugar and process it for about 30 seconds in a food processor)

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Meringue Cookies: Preheat oven to 200 degrees F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can form the cookies with a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch  plain tip.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Note: The meringue is done when it holds stiff peaks and when you rub a little between your thumb and index finger it does not feel gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers.

Before placing the cookies on the cookie sheet, place a little of the meringue on the underside of each corner of the parchment paper. This will prevent the paper from sliding.  Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch tip. Pipe 2 1/2 inch rounds of meringue in rows on the prepared baking sheet. For the stems of the mushrooms, just make a quarter size dollop and slowly come straight upwards and that will be your mushroom stem.
Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with cocoa powder for a more realistic mushroom look.

Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, rotating the baking sheet from front to back (about half way through) to ensure even baking. The meringues are done when they are pale in color and fairly crisp. Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying overnight.
Putting the cookies together:
Take a mushroom lid and make a small hole in the bottom, put melted chocolate on the stem of the mushroom and stick on the hole.  You can also smooth melted chocolate around the bottom of the mushroom to simulate the dark underside of a mushroom and use a fork to make score marks on the chocolate for a even more realistic look.

Makes about 10 - 2 1/2 inch meringues

Be a DEER and leave a comment please.......
:) Happy Baking!  :) Chef Bren