Lily Vanilli's Basic Meringues

Here is a rough guide to Lily Vanilli's basic meringue recipe. Her book is filled with such interesting and imaganative creations that i was apprehensive at first to attempt her recipe rather than sticking with an old school recipe, but she explains it so well and breaks it down into easy steps- as well as explaining all the science behind it which really helped and made me pay extra attention to what i was doing- although get back to me once i've attempted her 3 tier bitter chocolate orange cake, i have a feeling the impressive photography of this cake matches the complex recipe *faints*.

6 large egg whites- at room tempreature

1 tsp lemon juice

280g caster sugar

(i used 270g plain caster sugar and 10g sainsbury's taste the difference lavender infused sugar)

One baking tray, lined. 

1. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees fan assisted/gas mark 1.

-Prepare a baking tray with non stick baking parchment- stick down with some of the meringue mix to stop it folding up in the oven!-

2. In a bowl with an electric whisk whip egg whites- very slowly- you only want small bubbles to get in at first- once they start to foam slightly and look less liquid add the lemon juice and continue whisking until soft peaks form (still very light and airy but starting to hold shape)- approx 5 minutes 

3. Now you can slowly beat in the sugar- 2 tablespoons at a time- and continue to increase the speed until stiff peaks form

-The mixture should stick up when you move the whisk away, if it flops back down (don't be crude now) then whisk further.

4. Do the upside down bowl test- i dare ya.

-This is when i add the food coloring and fold it in very, very carefully, i found turning the whisk round once with the coloring helped create the lovely swirled effect. 

5. Use a metal spoon to dollop the beaten whites onto the prepared baking tray, or pipe, up to you, spooning by hand makes them look very big and messy in a good way!

-Do this straight away and don't leave the mixture to sink or knock it about to much- it won't make big fluffy meringues! 

6. Bake for 1 hour until set- they will have a still soft but crisp shell formed.

7. Turn off the oven and leave to dry for another hour.

Tips:

-Grease or oil, as well as plastic, can damage the whites from forming.

-Lemon juice round a clean bowl will help remove any dirt or grease.

-Keep the oven temperature low- or you will end up with burnt peaks!

-Create small bubbles on a low speed first. You don't want big pockets of air.

-Only increase the speed as you are adding the sugar to create your stiff peaks.

From Lily Vanilli's book Sweet Tooth