I’m certain ghost meringues are not a new thing. The idea came to me while I was brainstorming ideas for Halloween and flipping through a magazine. I read a recipe for meringues and ghost meringues popped in my head. Knowing nothing about making meringue (except that my grandma makes a perfect meringue for her coconut cream pie), I charged ahead. Also, I like to call them mare-ring-gays, just because.
Meringue is a really interesting blend. Eggs, salt, cream of tartar, sugar and a bit of vanilla, whipped together to create a sticky, gooey substance that when baked becomes crispy on the outside while chewy and gooey in the center. The Wikipedia explanation of meringue chemistry is cool. Being the nerd I am, I was not satisfied with the directions in the magazine so I Googled for more information. Through reading and trial and error, here are a few things to keep in mind should you make you and yours some ghost meringues. It’s not much, I’m just learning, but I thought you could learn from my mistakes experience.
- I thought this video was very helpful. Seeing it happen almost real time was key to my understanding of it all.
- Extra meringue “batter”, like if you have some left over after piping the ghosts, will bake differently after laying out for a while. More puffy, more bumpy and straight up weird.
- Store them in an air-tight container. Leaving them out causes them to wrinkle. And look weird.
- Meringues should be baked until dry and firm but not browned. Unless you want
burnedbrowned ghosts.
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 tsp real vanilla
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 scant tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup sugar
- 10-12 4-inch lollipop sticks
Instructions
- Prep two cookie sheets with parchment paper and arrange the lollipop sticks on the paper.
- In the bowl of stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), whisk together the eggs, vanilla, salt and cream of tartar.
- When the mix is foamy, gradually add in the sugar.
- Continue whisking the mix until stiff peaks form and you can no longer feel sugar grains when rubbing a bit of the mixture between your fingers, between 4-6 minutes.
- Scoop the meringue into a ziplock bag and cut off the corner.
- Pipe the ghosts onto the parchment paper, making sure the stick is well buried in the meringue. Use a knife to smooth.
- Bake at 200F for between 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. After 60 minutes, check on them every 5-10 minutes until they easily come off the parchment. Do not brown.
- Eat that day or store in an air-tight container for up to a month.
I didn’t realize these were meringue at first, yum!!!
I’m kind of obsessed with meringues (maaaaybe I’ve gone through entire containers by myself. in one sitting), so these are PERFECT for me!