Marbled Chocolate Meringues

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma’s “Cakes, Cookies, Pies, & Tarts”

Just had to post this recipe. Idon’t like to cook/bake anything for others unless I like a lot it myself and I LIKE IT! Originally, I wanted to try this dessert because the picture in the recipe book caught my eye. Who knew that the taste and the texture would be just as good. Sweet and chocolatey. Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. 3 ingredients, easy to make, tastes great. What more could you want? This is definitely one of my new favorites!

Marbled Chocolate Meringues
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 egg whites
1 C sugar

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a saucepan, bring 1-2 inches water to a simmer. Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water and melt, stirring occasionally. Set aside and let cool slightly. In another heatproof bowl, combine egg whites and sugar over simmering water and whisk until mixture is hot, 4-5 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until stiff peaks form and mixture is lukewarm, 4-5 minutes. Drizzle melted chocolate over egg white mixture, folding in with a rubber spatula until just marbled. With a soup spoon, drop batter in large mounds spaced 1 1/2-2 inches apart on prepare baking sheets. Bake until crisp outside and still chewy inside, 25-40 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack and let cool completely before removing cookies from parchment. Store in an airtight container.

I did hit a few snags, but I still think it’s an easy recipe. My first screw up was that I left the egg whites on the heat a few minutes too long. When I put them in the mixer, it smelled like I was mixing hard boiled eggs. I ended up tossing that batch and making a new one. My other screw up was not as major, but it’s still something I want to fix. I wasn’t happy with the look of the marbling. I overmixed the chocolate and the egg whitesand, as a result, my meringues came out a little too uniform in color. Definitely not as eye-pleasing as I had hoped. I’m also thinking about using a piping bag next time to make the shape something more than just a blob.

-Dave