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Photo, Liam Morgan.
These elegant, low calorie Christmas meringue swirls will make you the toast of the holiday party season. This meringue recipe only needs five ingredients.
1 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
4 egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract, (optional)
food colouring
POSITION oven racks in top third and centre of oven. Preheat oven to 200F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Stir sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 2 min. Gradually beat in sugar mixture, 2 tbsp at a time, until stiff and glossy peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 3 min. Beat in peppermint extract.
FIT a piping bag with a medium star tip. Dip end of a wooden skewer into food colouring and paint 2 thin vertical lines opposite each other inside piping bag. Fill bag with meringue. Pipe 2-in.-wide rosettes about ½ in. high onto parchment, 2 in. apart.
BAKE in top third and centre of oven, switching and rotating sheets halfway through, until tops are firm and bottoms are dry, about 2 hours. Turn off heat and let stand in oven for 1 hour more. Transfer to racks to cool completely. Meringues will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Do not refrigerate or freeze. Baking tip: When working with meringue, pipe and bake immediately. Meringue will lose volume if left too long.