Directions

0/0 steps made
  1. Preheat oven to 150°C
  2. Whisk egg whites using a hand mixer until mixture turns fluffy and white
  3. Add sugar gradually (ideally 1 tbsp at a time), until high stiff peaks form
  4. Whisk in cornflour and 2 tablespoons of vanilla essence
  5. Add food colouring and carefully fold in using a metal spoon, leaving streaks
  6. Put into a piping bag and pipe onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper
  7. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven – until meringues are set and crisp on the outside, but not browned
  8. Remove meringues from the oven and carefully place on a cooling rack
  9. Once cooled, dip them in melted chocolate and put on another baking tray lined with greaseproof paper
  10. Put tray in the fridge to set the chocolate
  11. Add double cream and 1 tablespoon vanilla essence to a large bowl and whisk until stiff
  12. Pipe or spread onto a chocolate dipped meringue heart, then top with another – we used one each of milk chocolate and white chocolate coated meringues!


Top Tips

  • Make sure the bowl you plan to whisk your whites in is thoroughly clean and dry, with no bits in it. You can rub lemon juice around the bowl to make sure it’s fully clean!
  • You want a good quality food colouring for this – we find a colouring paste (1 teaspoon mixed with half a teaspoon of water) is best! You can buy colouring paste online or from all good cake decorating shops. A decent gel food colouring should also work
  • Make sure to use a metal spoon to fold in the colouring, or you will knock the air out of the meringues
  • Be gentle when spooning the meringue into the piping bag too – for the same reason!
  • There are 2 ways to melt chocolate; in the microwave or in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water on the hob. For both methods break your chocolate into small chunks to avoid too much mixing
  • If using the microwave only cook in 30 second bursts, stirring between each time so that you don’t burn the chocolate. When the chocolate is almost melted cut the time down to 10 seconds
  • If using the hot water method, make sure the water is just simmering on a low heat – not boiling – and that it isn’t touching the bottom of the glass bowl. Don’t let any water get into the chocolate or it will seize – go all lumpy and hard
  • Once the cream is on the meringues they will have to be stored in the fridge and will last 24-48 hours
  • You can prep the meringues in advance, and simply add cream as and when you want to eat them – that way you can make them last a little longer! Just keep your meringues in an airtight container and your cream in the fridge – you can even whip the cream in advance and it will last 3 days