Nutella Meringue Kisses

I love Nutella and I love Meringues, so when I saw this recipe for 

Nutella Meringues, I couldn't wait to try them!! The meringue batter 

alone is so delicious, the meringues almost didn't make it to the oven!!

It's a cinch to make - just a basic meringue recipe that you 

swirl softened Nutella into. Delicious!!!

I wanted to pipe the meringues and still get the desired

swirls of Nutella, so I took a little of the softened

Nutella and with the back of a spoon, I spread it in a

 line vertically down the inside of my piping bag.

Then I did the same thing on the opposite side.

When I piped the meringues, it created pretty

swirls of the Nutella!

I piped these using a large plain tip, which made

the pretty "kisses."  The meringues do create air 

pockets when they bake so don't think that you've 

done something wrong if it happens to you. 

NUTELLA MERINGUES
Adapted from: Cream Puffs in Venice
Yields 15 to 20 meringues (depends on how big you make them)

3 large egg whites, at room temperature
a pinch of cream of tartar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon, granulated sugar
1/4 cup Nutella

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Make sure you have one oven rack in the bottom third of your oven and one in the upper third of your oven.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Warm the Nutella in a microwave then let it cool as you make the meringue.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, place the egg whites. Beat on medium-high speed until they are completely foamy.

Add the cream of tartar and the salt and continue whipping at medium-high speed until when you lift the whisk attachment, soft peaks form. This should take a few minutes.

Once you have reached the soft peak stage, increase the speed to high and begin adding the sugar a few spoonfuls at a time (this should take a few minutes).

Once all the sugar is in, the meringue should be very thick (almost stiff) and when you left the whisk firm peaks should remain.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and drop in all the Nutella. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the Nutella into the meringue three or four times. You’re aiming for a swirled effect so don’t overmix. This will also help avoid deflating the meringue.

Using two spoons, drop the meringue onto the parchment-lined baking sheets in large dollops.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, immediately lower the heat to 200 degrees F. and rotate the trays. Bake for an hour.

After an hour, check the meringues. If they are completely dried out then turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven for a few hours to cool with the oven. If the meringues still look a bit “wet”, then continue baking for another 20 minutes or so. Either way, once fully baked, turn off the oven and leave the meringues in there for a few hours.

When you remove the meringues from the oven they should be completely dry and cool and will sound hollow when you tap the bottoms.

The meringues will keep in an airtight container for a week.

These were truly the best tasting meringue cookies I

have ever made! Hope you give them a try!

Ruby Tea Cookies

Today my daughter and I made cute little Ruby Tea Cookies, yummy 

little almond and orange cookies sandwiched with raspberry jam!

The recipe came from a cookbook called "Fairy Cooking." It's a

really cute cookbook that any little girl would love! It's full of

mini delights including "Pretty Fairy Fudge," "Swirly Pink

Cookies," "Tiny Fairy Cakes," and "Butterfly Cupcakes!"

Since I thought that the cookies might be tricky to move to the

baking sheet after cutting out, I actually rolled the dough out

and cut out the shapes on the parchment paper. Then I just

peeled the extra dough away from the cookies and transferred

the parchment paper to the baking sheet.

Rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes is a little time consuming, 

but worth it! This would be a fun activity at a birthday party!

I wet the flower cookies with a little water using a pastry brush before

adding the sprinkles.

RUBY TEA COOKIES

Fairy Cooking

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

one small orange

1 medium egg, beaten

2 tbsp ground almonds

1 3/4 cups AP flour

1 tbsp cornmeal

8 tbsp raspberry jam

2" round cookie cutter

small flower cookie cutter

Into a large bowl, mix butter & sugar until creamy.  Zest the rind 

from orange and add to bowl and combine. Add egg, combine. 

Add almonds, combine. Mix together flour & cornmeal, then combine 

with butter mixture.  Mix together until a dough forms. Wrap dough 

in plastic food wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle some flour onto a work 

surface and roll out dough to 1/8" thick. Using round cutter, cut 

out circles. Then use the flower cutter to cut holes in the middle 

of half of the circles. Squeeze scraps into a ball and roll out again, 

cutting out as many shapes as you can. Place cookies on a baking 

sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. Leave 

them on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then cool on wire rack. 

Spread preserves on the whole cookies, as far as the edge.

Then place a flower cookie on each one and press down gently.

I used my vintage tea towel with the bluebird taking tea!

So cute!!

The little flower shaped cookies below were the extra shapes

left over after cutting out the cookies. My bluebird loved

them with her tea! LOL!

Thanks for popping by! Have a great day!!