You would think that by adding chocolate to meringue you would be making something sickly sweet, well you'll be very pleasantly surprised. By using dark chocolate you can really make the humble meringue even better. Addictively better (who would have thunk it?). Inspired by my chocolate marshmallows and the fact I had some chocolate in my cupboard I decided to give these a go during one of my meringue making stints and the only regret I now have is that I can't stop eating them whenever I bake them. Don't believe me? Try them yourself.
Makes 6-7
Hands-on Time 15 minutes
Baking Time 120 minutes
Ingredients
100g Dark chocolate (70%)
4 Egg whites, from medium eggs
255g Caster sugar
Fine salt, pinch
Equipment
Baking sheet (ideally aluminium)
Baking parchment
Microwaveable bowl
Microwave
Spatula
Large bowl
Electric or hand whisk
Large spoon
Preheat the oven to 90°C/70°C (Fan)/195°F/Gas mark 1/4.
Line the baking sheet with baking parchment.
Break the chocolate up over the microwaveable bowl.
Pop the bowl into the microwave for 30 second blasts. Between each rest give the chocolate a stir with a spatula. Repeat until melted.
Set the bowl aside.
Add the egg whites to the large bowl and whisk on a medium speed until you have soft peaks.
Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites whilst still whisking. Only add a couple of tablespoons at a time and whisk for at least 20 seconds after each addition. You should be able to listen to one Eurovision song whilst you do all of this, otherwise you’ve added the sugar too quickly.
By the time you’ve added all of the sugar you should have a thick marshmallowy meringue.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the meringue and sprinkle over a little salt.
Give the meringue a couple of folds to incorporate some of the melted chocolate. You don’t have to mix all of it, just enough to give you a beautiful ripple effect.
Using a large spoon and spatula dollop the meringue onto the baking sheet, you should be able to get 6-7 meringues.
Pop the baking sheet into the oven on a medium shelf for 120 minutes.
When the time is up remove the sheet from the oven and set aside. Leave the meringues to rest until cool.
Enjoy!
