- 4 egg whites
- 225g caster sugar
- 1 tsps cornflour
- 1 rounded Tbs cocoa powder
- thickened cream to serve
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 150C fanbake. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Put the egg whites and caster sugar in a large heatproof bowl and sit over a pan of simmering water. Don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water or the egg whites will scramble. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is quite hot to touch, then immediately remove from the heat.
Step 2Whisk egg white mixture using a hand-held electric beater for about 10-15 minutes until very thick, white and glossy. Mix in the cornflour. Sieve in the cocoa powder and, using a large metal spoon, very lightly fold into the meringue using 2-3 strokes. Don't mix it thoroughly.
Step 3. Spoon the mixture (you can pipe it with the piping bag, if you wish-ab) onto the prepared baking sheets in 6 large spoonfuls, making each one as peaky as possible (don't have to do this when you want to make 10 small meringues-ab). Put the baking tray in the oven, reduce the temperature to 120C and cook for 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the
meringues inside until completely cold.
