Tea-Spiced Meringues
Difficulty: Easy
Yield: About 60 drops
Nutritional Information per Serving (serving size: 1 of 4 servings): Calories 166; Total Fat 0 g; Saturated Fat 0 g; Carbohydrates 39 g; Dietary Fiber 0 g; Sugar 39 g; Protein 3 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 153 mg
Total Time: 4 hours
Active Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 English Breakfast tea bag (or roughly 1 1/4 teaspoons loose tea leaves)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- White sanding sugar for topping
Directions
- Arrange oven racks in the upper and lower thirds and preheat oven to 225F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove tea leaves from the tea bag and, if coarse, grind them finely with a spice grinder. In a small bowl, combine the tea leaves with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
- In a large bowl, whisk egg whites on medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Add cream of tartar and salt; continue beating until soft peaks form, about 34 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and add the sugar gradually, one tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form, about 45 minutes. Fold in vanilla and the teaspice blend.
- Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip. Pipe 1 1/4-inch mounds about 1 inch apart onto the prepared sheets. Lightly sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until meringues lift easily from the parchment, about 2 hours. Turn off the oven and let meringues dry inside for an additional hour. Cool completely on the sheets before serving.
Photograph by Ryan Dausch
