The Scran Line - Rose Meringue Cookies (Eton Mess edition)

After coming across these delectable little rose meringue cookies on The Scran Line YouTube channel I couldn't resist making them that night. After not realising that they required around 2 hours of baking... starting the recipe at 11pm probably wasn't the best idea but they're were too good not to bake that night, and made an even better midnight snack. The results were incredibly pretty. The original recipe said to use chocolate ganache but I decided that I like nothing more than a good old Eton Mess in the summer time so I transformed these beautiful rose meringues into eton mess delights... you can thank me later. 

On to the recipe (from the scran line - link): 

4 egg whites

170g caster sugar

A few drops pink gel food colouring (I prefer to use Wilton rose pink or Americolour deep pink.)

1 tsp of vanilla

100ml double cream

20g icing sugar

Vanilla seeds/extract

Whatever berries you desire

Preheat the oven to 100C (200F). If your oven doesnt go as low as 100C (200F) set it to the lowest temp but cook for a shorter amount of time. The closer it is to 100C (200F), the better as any temperature higher than that will result in a chewy meringue cookie

1. Whip the egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

Gradually, and very slowly, add the sugar, while continuing to whip. Mixture should be very stiff and glossy.

2. Add a few drops of food gel and vanilla in your meringue, and gently fold.

3. Turn your piping bag inside out and use a toothpick to apply 4 straight lines of pink food gel on bag. Turn back around and fill your piping bag with meringue mixture, just over half way. Twist the end of the bag tight.

4. Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw circles on the paper about 5cm (2 inches) in diameter. Turn the paper over so the side with the circles is under the meringues. Grab a little bit of meringue on your finger and dab each corner underneath the baking paper and firmly press the paper onto the meringue to help it stick. This will prevent it from flying around your oven when baking if you're using a fan forced oven. :0)

5. Pipe rosettes using a piping bag fitted with a 1M TIP onto parchment lined baking sheets, and bake for 1 hour or until the meringues are very dry and peel off the parchment easily.

6. Leave them in the oven to cool completely to avoid cracks forming on your lovely meringues.

7. Whip the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla together until the cream is thick but not overly stiff (so it will just fall off your spoon)

8. Construct the cooled meringues - fill with a spoon of cream and whatever berries you'd like. 

9. Note that these are delicious to eat fresh and once just filled as if you left them in the fridge (because of the cream) they will begin to go soggy due to the excess moisture. 

There you have it, absolutely gorgeous, fresh eton mess meringue rose cookies... just a lot prettier than an eton mess, Enjoy Xx