So, I had a bit of a lapse this week and didn’t plan what I wanted to bake this weekend. What makes it worse, is that it was a 3-day weekend, and thus I actually had MORE time to bake. So I was sitting on my couch today, having just finished reading my book and nothing to watch on daytime television, wondering what I could possibly make. I had no chocolate. Only one stick of butter (still rock-hard in the fridge), no cream cheese, no Oreos – basically I was missing quite a few key ingredients to make something interesting.

After thinking about it for awhile, I realized that I basically had a ton of eggs and sugar. That’s when it hit me: meringues! They’re nothing but eggs and sugar. And I’ve never made meringues in my life, so today seemed like a good day to start trying. I tried my hardest to beat the egg whites into submission, but unfortunately they didn’t cooperate and reach the stiff peak consistency I was looking for, which meant my meringues were more blob that swirl – but they still tasted good!

So here’s the recipe for my first attempt: a basic peppermint-flavored meringue [blob].

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 Tablespoons icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 220°F (110°C), then line your baking sheets with baking paper. In a glass or metal bowl, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until they reach a soft-peak stage (this will work best if you have a whisk attachment for your mixer).

2. With your mixer still running, add in the sugar about a teaspoon at a time – waiting until each spoonful is fully incorporated before adding the next. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, add in the peppermint extract.

3. Continue mixing on high speed and add in the icing sugar. Keep the mixer running until you reach stiff peaks.

4. Transfer your mixture to a piping bag to swirl onto your prepared baking sheets, or use a spoon to dollop them onto the trays.

5. Bake your meringues for about an hour – or until they are light and airy. They should not start to turn a golden color, so keep an eye out to make sure you don’t over-bake them.

I left these plain, given the amount of time and lack of ingredients I had on hand – but ideally I would have made a chocolate buttercream to sandwich the meringue puffs together. But try experimenting with shapes, colors, and flavors to see what you can come up with!