Meringues That Look Like Soft Serve Ice Cream Cones

How to Make Meringues That Look Like Soft Serve Ice Cream Cones

To make these confections (so simple to make, so tricky in appearance!), you'll need to know how to make a basic meringue.

Ingredients for Meringue:

• egg whites, as many as you'd like.  (I used six, and made 3x as many ice cream cones as you see on my dessert table.)
• sugar, 1/4 cup per egg white 
• cream of tartar, 1/8 tsp per egg white
• vanilla (or other flavoring, if desired)

Instructions for Making Meringues:

1.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably late at night (more about this in step 8).

2.  Separate your eggs, and set aside or discard the yolks.  You don't want a single speck of egg yolk to make it into your mixing bowl!  This is very, very important, because any fat in the mixture will prevent your egg whites from whipping up properly.  To prevent any accidents, you should separate the eggs into a small bowl, one at a time, and if the egg white was properly separated, then dump it into your mixing bowl.  Older eggs work better than fresher ones.  And it all works much better if the egg whites are room temperature when you whip them up.

3.  Beat the egg whites until they have started to foam, then add the cream of tartar. Add any flavoring now, too.

4.  Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form (if you lift the beater, a peak will form, but it will droop over), and then start adding the sugar.  Rain it in gradually while the mixer is on a medium-slow speed--don't dump it in all at once. 

5.  Turn the mixer on high and whip until stiff peaks form (when you lift the mixer head out, a peak forms, and stays formed).

6.  Line a baking pan with parchment paper.  Trace the size you want the meringues to be on the parchment paper.  I used the cones themselves as my guide.

7.  Place the meringue in a piping bag, use a large tip or simply snip off a large hole at the end of the bag, and start swirling!

8.  Bake the meringues for one hour.  After that one hour is done, switch off the oven, but just leave them in there.  I like doing this part overnight, which is why I suggested doing this project late at night in the first step.  If you want to do it during the day, let the meringues sit in there and dry for at least three hours.  

9.  Congratulations! You've made meringues.  To make the cones, the next morning, peel the meringues off the parchment and pick the prettiest ones.  Melt some white chocolate candy melts in the microwave, and dip the rim of the cone in the white chocolate.  Set the meringue on top of the cone, at let sit until the white chocolate firms up.