Kahlua Meringues

     So it's been a while since I updated the blog because I'll be honest, sometimes all the darn writing I have to do pushes updating the blog to the way, far back burner of my life.  Especially around the holidays where I try to spend as much time as I can with my family and friends.  So now that the writing is at least at manageable  proportions, I can spend some time updating this blog with all my delicious recipes.
     This recipe kind of came about by accident.  In a bit, I will post the recipe for Marshmallow chocolate cupcakes, which I made for a friend's birthday;  it turns out that the first frosting recipe I made makes a TON of frosting.  So me being the person I am,  I mixed in a bit of Kahlua and made these absolutely tasty little pieces of heaven.
      Don't be scared of meringues, just don't try to make them on the rainiest, humid day of the week.  Pick a nice, dry day and then make these pieces of heaven.  I really like to make them towards the evening and then let them sit in the oven overnight; they are wonderful with or even in a cup of coffee.  Flavor them with whatever flavor you like, be creative, use a little food coloring; PLAY, meringues are very fun!
      Besides the rule of not making these on the rainiest day of the year, make sure that there are NO YOLKS in your egg whites.  Cracking eggs without getting the yolk into the white is probably the biggest mistake people make.  If you get even a nano drop of yolk into your egg whites, you're whites won't get fluffy and puff up, which makes sad, flat meringues.  So armed with your best set of hands and a nice sunny day, begin your easy meringue journey.
   
   Ingredients:

3 large egg whites   (don't use the already separated kind that you get in a box, they don't fluff right)
3/4 cup white sugar
 1/4 tsp or large pinch of cream of tarter  (this makes the egg whites hold the whipped air and stay fluffy)
 1 to 2 tbsp of Kahlua  (pick 2 if you like the flavor of Kahlua, 1 if you're not sure)
food coloring if you like
 Pastry bag or Ziploc bag
  Star tip

Directions:  

Preheat the oven  to 350 degrees.   Place a shallow pot on the stove with about 4 inches of water, then place a bowl over the water pot.  A double boiler.   In the bowl over the simmering water, add the egg whites and sugar.   The idea in doing this is that you "cook" the egg whites and dissolve the sugar.  So with that in mind, stir constantly and bring the egg whites up to warm.   I define warm as warm to the touch.   When you touch the egg whites, the "grit" of the sugar should be gone.  Think silky smooth texture.
    So once your egg whites and sugar are warm and silky take the top bowl off the heat and bring to beat the egg whites with a mixer.  I prefer to do this in my stand mixer because it's nice to be able to turn the mixer up as the egg whites fluff and be able to walk away.  If you don't have a stand mixer, slowly increase the speed while mixing well.
   As the mixture begins to fluff, add the Kahlua and the cream of tarter.  The  mixture will get very white, very fluffy and very glossy.  In order to tell when the meringues are done, take a beater and flip it upside down.  If the the peak holds its shape, then your meringues are done!
   GENTLY take a spatula and put the meringues in the pastry or Ziploc bag.  If you're using a pastry bag, a large star tip makes the pretty shape.  If you're really creative, you can stripe the bag and do all types of fun things to make these pretty.  I'm not that creative and I'm more into function, so these are just white.  Take a cookie sheet and cover it in parchment paper.  Then pipe out the stars.
   Once you've piped out all the stars (hint to this: squeeze the pastry bag to get the right amount of meringue and then release the bag before you pull the bag up), place the cookie sheets with the meringues in the oven and then turn the oven off!  Yes, trust me, turn the over OFF!  Don't open the oven door again until morning or for at least 8 hours.  TRUST ME, DON'T OPEN THAT OVEN DOOR!  If you open the door, the heat rushes out and your meringues are gooey, not crisp.  Your patience will be rewarded!
     So now that morning has come, open the oven, GENTLY peel off your meringues and try not to eat them all!  If you take sugar in your coffee, add a few meringues to your coffee and enjoy!  The crisp on the outside, delicate on the inside little puffs are heavenly!