Halloween approaches and these scary bones filled with cream and dripping with blood (ok, strawberry sauce) are a perfect spooky treat! Making meringues is easy too and they can be made in advance as they last for 5 days unfilled in an air tight container.
I started by whisking up 6 egg whites and 1 tsp cream of tartar in a mixer until stiff peaks formed, then slowly added 164g caster sugar with the mixer still on. I also added 1 tsp vanilla extract. Once they were mixed I folded in another 164g caster sugar. The way to get perfect meringues is to measure your egg whites, then mix in that same amount of sugar, and finally fold in that same amount of sugar again.
Put the meringue mixture in a piping bag with a large circular nozzle and pipe 'bone' shapes onto a lined baking tray. I got 24 shapes out of my mixture. Some of the bones were neater than others!
Bake the meringues on 120C/250F/Gas Mark 1/2 (half) for 1 hour. They are done when they come off the baking paper easily and sound hollow when you tap the bottom. Exactly an hour baked mine perfectly. Turn the oven off and leave the meringues to cool in the oven. Then remove to cool completely on a wire rack.
I whipped up a pot of cream and used a piping bag with a star nozzled to pipe the cream onto half of the bones. I then added a drizzle of strawberry dessert sauce and sandwiched another meringue on top.
I was so pleased with the meringues as they had that perfect combination of crunch and chew! They are delicious filled with the cream. These would be so easy for a Halloween party as you can make the meringues days in advance, then fill with cream and sauce before your guests arrive. I would advise they are served immediately or as soon as possible so the cream doesn't make the meringues go soggy.
I developed this idea from a Martha Stewart recipe and I am entering into myself and Stuart at Cakeyboi's monthly challenge Treat Petite, this month's theme is Halloween! Send in your spooky treat petite's to Stuart at [email protected]
I'm also entering it into Dollybakes and Laura Loves Cakes challenge Calendar Cakes, their theme this month is 'Something Wicked This Way Comes...'
