Cuban Meringues

 

I have had meringues before... but I didn't like them. 

(I must be more of a picky eater than I thought!)

 

Then my father-in-law sent us THESE Cuban meringues:

 (there used to be meringues in the packaging....)

OH....MY....WORD- they were yummy! 

And therefore didn't last long...

So I tried to find a recipe to make these, and I had no luck. :(

I kept finding recipes with lemon in them, but the packaging of the ones I liked didn't have lemon- just corn syrup, sugar, water, egg whites, & vanilla.  

I couldn't find ANY recipes with corn syrup, THEN I realized found out that you can make your own corn syrup from just sugar and water! 

(I probably should have learned that in like... 4th grade- right?)

THEREFORE: I made my own concoction (basically combining two recipes). 

You will need the following: 

4 egg whites

1/2 cup of hot water

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

parchment paper (although I used waxed paper)

Seperate your egg whites from the yolks,

(you will not use the yolks for the recipe).

 Beat your egg whites until they form peaks.

My egg whites looked like this. 

Set this aside for a moment while you make the corn syrup.

(apparently you don't want to over beat your egg whites.)

In a saucepan, combine your hot water and sugar.
After your mixture has started boiling, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Continue boiling, stirring constantly until they reach "soft ball stage". 

(238 degrees Fahrenheit)

 Your corn syrup should look something like this. 

Now, your going to combine the two. :D 

 You will need to set your mixer at a slow/medium speed.

Gently and gradually pour your hot syrup into the mixing egg whites.

Keep beating them for about 6- 8 minutes or until your mixture is cool and shiny. 

Spoon your mixture into a pastry bag with a fancy tip, 

and pipe them onto your waxed paper.

(If you don't have a pastry bag, just spoon your mixture onto the waxed paper.)

Note: Most of the directions I found on line directed me to spray a small coat of oil onto the parchment paper. I forgot to do this on my first tray, but remembered on the second tray. However, the bottom of the meringues that were on the greased tray had a yellow tinge to them. The meringues on the UN-greased tray didn't have a tinge to them at all. 

Bake your meringues into the oven at 200 degrees F. for approximately 2 hours. 

(I tested mine after 2 hours, and they weren't quite crispy- 

so I gave them another 15 minutes and they were perfect!) 

The meringues shouldn't be in the oven long enough to get any color. 

They should remain white.

If your looking for a simple recipe, (they really are very easy!) TRY this! 

I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine have!