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It still amazes me sometimes, this cooking thing. Take brown sugar meringues, for example. Two egg whites at the bottom of a large mixing bowl do not look like much. A half cup of brown sugar isn’t exactly a huge amount of anything, either. But add a pinch of salt and the simple addition of air, and suddenly I’m spooning clouds of sweet meringue into a pastry bag and piping row after row onto a baking sheet.
The Big Man and I just returned home after another whirlwind weekend out of town. This time we went from New York to South Jersey to Baltimore and back again. On Saturday, I and another girlfriend threw a baby shower for one of our closest friends. The next day the Big Man and I packed up our rental car and drove to Baltimore for a wedding. The groom and I have known each other since we were kids.
How To Make Brown Sugar ?
If you want to learn how to make brown sugar click on the link.
I served these brown sugar meringues at the baby shower, on a fold-out table in the backyard of a farm, under the branches of an enormous, ancient tree. Of all the items I had stress-baked for the shower, these meringues were my favorite. Just three ingredients and some time with a mixer, and they were a hit; not too sweet, a little crispy-chewy, and perfect with tall glass of iced tea.
I feel like the relationships in my life start out like the bowl of plain egg whites, lonely and unadorned at the bottom of a mixing bowl. They might not look like much, but after time and air and sugar, the bowl is filled with goodness.
I like those lists, the plans I have, the ways I attempt to keep my life in order. I feel so much more in control when I write things down. But who knows about the unknown uncontrollable paths we really travel along? Who could have guessed the random path that brought me to here, standing under a huge tree in a backyard, watching tablecloths whip in the wind and swallowing away a lump in my throat? That a little boy I knew in kindergarten would someday grow up and walk down the aisle with his new wife. That the little things, like two plain egg whites at the bottom of a bowl, would whip into something so huge and wonderful.
Yummy Brown Sugar Meringues Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- large pinch of coarse sea salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
Instructions
- In a glass or stainless steel bowl and using a hand mixer set to medium-low, whip the egg whites until foamy. Add the salt and continue to whip until soft peaks form.
- Add the sugar and turn the mixer to medium-high. Whip until the mixture turns glossy and stiff peaks form.Preheat the oven to 200*F.
- Place a pastry tip at the bottom of a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the tip cut off (see note) Pour the meringue mix into a pastry bag or a plastic baggie with the tip cut out. If you don’t have an extra hand helping in the kitchen, place the bag inside a tall pint glass and fill it that way.
- Pipe the meringues into flat cookies, leaving a little “foot” tip at the end if you’d like. Alternatively, you can pipe them into rounds- whichever you prefer.
- Bake for 75 minutes. Turn off the oven, prop the oven door open slightly, and allow the meringues to sit for at least another hour in the oven.
- These are best the next day, after they have sat out overnight. To store, keep in a closed container in a cool, dry place. The meringues wiill keep for several weeks this way.
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