Chocolate Swirl Meringues!

Good morning! This is hopefully the first of many recipe posts, I've been wanting to do a recipe post for a while but haven't been sure what to choose! Finally i settled on meringues as I've been a bit obsessed with them the past few weeks. Although these aren't just any meringues these are a bit of an experimentation of mine, I've seen meringues with chocolate swirls in meringues before (Carluccio's have the most amazing chocolate swirl meringues!) and have been dying to try them for a while, so here we are!

Egg whites and Caster sugar glossy mixture

Folding in the Cocoa with a swirly ribbon effect!

 Always like it a bit messy with dusted tops! 

Normally I don't do any experimenting with different or extra ingredients in my baking, I always like to follow the recipe to the letter and would have normally checked online for a recipe that incorporates cocoa powder however I keep meaning to try new things with my baking and trust my instincts so this seemed like an easy place to start. I hope you enjoy baking these as much as I did!

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1-1.5 hours

Ingredients:

• 3 Med Eggs 
• 175g Caster Sugar
• 1.5 Tbsp Cocoa Powder 
• Whipped cream for serving (optional) 

Method: 

• Pre heat the oven to 120c and line a baking tray with baking paper, parchment or non stick liner (i use one from lakeland). 
• Separate egg whites into a mixing bowl (I use an empty plastic water bottle to suck the yolk out of the whites, it works just as well as one you can buy from the shops, however if the eggs aren't fresh then the yolk is more likely to break while being sucked out so i would recommend using fairly fresh eggs or a different method such as cracking the egg into your hand and letting the whites drip through your fingers or using a separator like this ). 
• Whisk the eggs using an electric whisk on high until they are stiff and fluffy. 
• Then add the sugar slowly, i recommend 1 tsp at a time, until the mixture is stiff and glossy. (If you dare to really test if it is ready hold the bowl upside down over your head and if it stays in place your good to go!) 
• Now add the cocoa and fold in carefully, it should look swirly a bit like ribbons, make sure not to mix it in completely to get the full swirly effect. If 1.5 tbsp doesn't look like enough feel free to add more, I originally started with just 1 tbsp but thought it could use more and 1.5 seemed perfect! 
• Once the mixture is to your satisfaction either use a piping bag to pipe the meringues onto the tray, however i find that a bit too time consuming so i just use to table spoons to spoon the mixture on in a roundish sort of shape with a bit of a peak on top! You can also dust cocoa on top before popping in the oven. 
• Pop in the oven for 1-1.5 hours (mine usually takes just over an hour to be done but ovens vary a lot so when it is done you should be able to take it off the non stick paper without it sticking at all). 
• Just leave them to cool for a bit and then enjoy with whatever you fancy! Also the most amazing thing happens with the cocoa powder, in the creamy centre it goes like gooey chocolatey goodness! They're a bit addictive! 

What experiments do you do in your baking? 

Charlotte x