Strawberries and dreaming of summer...

Now then, I'm not sure if its wierd or not that I've never made meringues before. It could be quite normal I think. On the otherhand, is it the kind of thing that everyone makes at some point in primary school cooking classes?

Either way, this weekend I made meringues for the first time. I suppose its not the classic time of year to have meringues and strawberries (Wimbledon and July evenings spring more obviously to mind), but I had an egg white left over from another recipe.



I expect everyone except me already knew how to make meringues, but here's the recipe I used anyway:

Meringue (enough for 2 servings, with about 100g strawberries each)

1 egg white
40g caster sugar (I used unrefined caster sugar, which is why my meringues aren't bright white)

Whisk the egg white with an electric beater until it holds soft peaks.
Add half the sugar and whisk again until its mixed in properly.
Add the remaining sugar and continue to beat until it forms stiff peaks. My recipe said to keep going until the mixture stays in the bowl when you hold it upside down. It struck me that this test probably was a bit counter-productive!
Place dessertspoons of mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Cook in the oven at about 120C for 1 hr 40 mins. The outside will be crispy and they will come away from the paper easily, but they should still be a bit chewy in the middle.
Set aside to cool.