Meringue Mushrooms
Sweet, light and sure to fool the eye! These meringue mushrooms are the perfect decoration for your holiday cakes and Buche De Noel.
Low FODMAP Serving Size Info: Makes about 36 assorted sized “mushrooms”; serving size 2 mushrooms
Ingredients:
- 4 large egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup (198 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Disposable pastry bags
- Coupler
- 1/2 inch (12 mm) round tip, such as Ateco # 806 or Wilton 1A
- Dutch-processed cocoa and/or natural cocoa
- 3 ounces (85 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Preparation:
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Preheat oven to 225°F/110°C. Line two half-sheet baking pans with parchment paper.
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Place egg whites in a clean, grease free bowl of stand mixer and whip with balloon whip attachment on high speed until foamy. (You can also use a large bowl, an electric mixer and beaters, but beating times will be longer). Add cream of tartar and whip until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually and whip until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Beat in vanilla extract. Scrape mixture into pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch (12 mm) round tip.
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On one sheet pan pipe about 36 rounds that vary in size from about 1 inch to 2 inches (2.5 cm to 5 cm) in diameter (like the white mushrooms from the supermarket) placing the cookies 1-inch (2.5 cm) apart. The cookies will have peaked tops, like chocolate kisses; that’s OK. Dip your index finger in water, shake excess water off, then gently press down on the peak to make a rounded, mushroom-like top. Place cocoa in a fine-meshed strainer and sift lightly over rounds. It should look like the mushroom tops are dusted with “dirt”.
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On the other sheet pan, pipe out the stems as follows: hold the tip directly over the pan, hovering about 1/2 inch (12 mm) above the pan, with the tip’s opening facing straight down. Begin applying pressure; the meringue stem will touch the pan and you should immediately lift the pastry bag straight up to guide the stem straight up. When the stem is about 1 inch high, gradually lessen your pressure and pull up. You should have an upright stem with a peaked top (see image). Just like with the caps, you want 36 stems and they should vary in height and thickness a little bit to match up with the varying sizes of caps.
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Bake both pans for about 1 1/2 hours or until meringue is completely dry and crispy to the touch. Slide parchment onto racks to cool cookies completely. Take a very small sharp paring knife and cut off the peaked tops of the stems to create a flat surface; this is the surface that will attach to the cap. The meringue is so dry that you can almost scrape it flat with the knife after cutting off the peak to create a nice, smooth surface.
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Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave and stir until smooth; cool until just warm.
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Take a small offset spatula and spread a little bit of chocolate on the bottom of a cap, very neatly, going all the way to the edges but not onto the sides of the cap. Take a stem that visually matches in size (you just pick and choose caps and stems that seem to go together. Remember, there is a lot of variation in real mushrooms). Affix the cut side of the stem in the center of the wet chocolate and press to adhere. Place upright (stem side down, cap side up) on a cookie sheet, or on its side if the stem is already connected pretty firmly.
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Repeat with all mushrooms and place on pan to allow chocolate to harden completely (you may place the pan in the refrigerator briefly if the chocolate is not firming up). Cookies may be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Notes:
Tips
- This is one of those recipes that does take attention to detail, but I have taught many people how to make these over decades of classes and I promise that if you follow the directions, you will be rewarded with gorgeous "mushrooms". Take it slowly and methodically!