Matcha Monster Meringues Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
• Place egg whites, granulated sugar, and salt in a heatproof bowl. Set bowl over a pot with a few inches of barely simmering water; cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is warm, frothy and sugar is dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and, using an electric mixer, beat on high until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 3 minutes. Place confectioners' sugar and matcha in a small sieve; sift over egg white mixture and gently fold in with a rubber spatula.
• Fit a large pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip and fill with meringue. Pipe 1 1/2-inch kisses onto prepared baking sheet. Bake until dry, rotating pan halfway through, about 2 hours. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack before peeling off parchment. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium high. Beat in the granulated sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, adding a couple drops of black food coloring with the final tablespoon of sugar to tint the mixture light gray. Beat in the vanilla if using. Continue beating until the meringue is thick and glossy and holds stiff peaks, 6 minutes more.
• Spray a 3-tablespoon (#20) cookie scoop with nonstick spray and scoop balls of the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Lightly dust the tops with cocoa powder--you should see meringue underneath.
• Bake the meringues until set, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven, turn off the oven and keep the oven door closed. Let the meringues sit until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes. Then, hollow them out this way: Hold a meringue flat-side up in one hand. With the edge of a metal teaspoon, gently carve a hole in the center of the meringue's base, leaving some lip around the opening. Press your thumb into the hole and push the inside of the meringue up against the walls to hollow out the interior (see Cook's Note).
• Return the meringues to the baking sheet and place them in the turned-off oven until completely dried out, at least 3 hours and up to 8 hours.
• With a wooden spoon, smash the rock candy sticks in their bags to break the sugar off the sticks and into smaller crystals. Pour the crystals into small bowls separated by color.
• Place the white candy melting wafers in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted.
• Use a pastry brush to paint a circle of melted wafers (about the size of a quarter) on the bottom of a meringue cavity. Immediately fill the cavity with dark-colored rock candy. Wait a few seconds, then pour the excess rock candy back into its bowl. Paint the rest of the cavity with melted wafers. Immediately fill the cavity with light-colored rock candy. Wait a few seconds before pouring out the excess. Repeat with the remaining meringues, wafers and rock candy.

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350˚. Spread 3/4 cup pistachios on a baking sheet and bake on the lower oven rack until toasted, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely, then pulse in a food processor until finely chopped.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the granulated sugar on one of the prepared pans and bake on the lower oven rack until very hot but not melting, about 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 225˚.
• Meanwhile, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. About 30 seconds before the sugar comes out of the oven, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the hot sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, using the parchment paper as a funnel. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat, scraping down the bowl as needed, until stiff peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat until the meringue is fluffy, about 30 seconds.
• Reline the baking sheet that you used for the sugar with parchment paper. Gently fold the chopped pistachios and chocolate into the meringue with a rubber spatula until just combined. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. Pipe the meringue into 1 3/4-inch-wide mounds (about 1 1/2 inches tall) about 1 inch apart onto the prepared pans. Very finely chop the remaining 2 tablespoons pistachios, then sprinkle on the meringues.
• Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the meringues are firm to the touch and lift easily off the parchment, 40 to 50 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the meringues sit in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove the meringues to racks to cool completely.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 10- to 12-cup bundt pan with the butter, then dust it with flour, tapping out any excess.
• Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl; set aside.
• Heat the coffee, coconut oil, cocoa powder, semisweet chocolate and 1/3 cup of the coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate is melted and makes a smooth sauce, 4 to 5 minutes. Fold the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture until smooth and combined. Fold in the vanilla and eggs until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack set inside a baking sheet to cool completely, 1 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, make the ganache: Put the white chocolate in a heatsafe bowl; set aside.
• Sift the matcha into a saucepan and whisk in 1/4 cup of the coconut milk. Keep whisking until no lumps remain. Whisk in the remaining coconut milk. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the mixture just begins to boil. Pour it over the white chocolate, let it sit for a few seconds, then stir it all together until the chocolate melts. Let the ganache cool slightly, stirring often, until no longer hot to the touch and thickened but still pourable.
• Pour 1 cup of the ganache over the cake and refrigerate until hardened, about 10 minutes. Pour the remaining ganache over the cake and refrigerate until hardened, about 10 minutes. Scrape the ganache at the bottom of the baking sheet back into the bowl and pour it over top once more. Let it harden, about 10 minutes.
• Decorate the cake with candy eyeballs, then slice and serve.

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the condensed milk and matcha. Mix in the coconut and set aside.
• In a separate large mixing bowl, add the egg whites and salt. Using a hand mixer, beat until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Spoon lightly packed 2-inch balls (you can use a 2-inch cookie scoop or weigh 1.5 ounces) of the mixture onto the baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
• Bake in the oven until golden brown; begin checking for doneness at 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes on the pans. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Allow the baking sheets to cool completely. You'll use them again.
• Melt the chocolate in a microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each, or in a heat-safe bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring often. Dip the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate, scraping off any excess. Then dip in the silver sanding sugar and return to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Attach the candy eyeballs using the chocolate as glue. Let the macaroons set at room temperature or in the fridge. Enjoy!
• The macaroons can be kept at room temperature for about 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the caster sugar in a small roasting tray lined with baking parchment. Shake to level out the sugar and heat in the oven for about 5 mins until hot but not melting. This helps stabilise the egg whites and give a smooth and glossy meringue.
• Put the egg whites and cream of tartar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk slowly at first, gradually increasing the speed until the egg whites are at the stiff peak stage, about 5 mins. It's important not to over-whisk the egg whites. Remove the sugar from the oven as soon as the eggs whites are stiff.
• Turn the oven down to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼, leaving the door ajar to help it cool down quickly - the meringues need to be baked at a lower temperature.
• Turn the mixer up to full speed and start adding the sugar one tablespoon at a time. You want the egg whites to maintain their volume as you keep adding sugar, so if you see it starting to collapse, stop adding sugar and allow the mixture to stiffen and rise before adding the rest, a spoonful at a time.
• Once all the sugar has been added, keep whisking until you have a stiff and glossy mixture. It's ready to use when it holds its shape, about 2-5 mins after you add the last of the sugar. You should also be able to see peaks in the mixture as you remove and upturn the whisk.
• To add colour to your monsters, you will need to paint your piping bags. This mixture will make enough for two piping bags - one green, and one purple - but feel free to choose your own monster colours, and even mix them up by painting stripes. Turn your piping bags inside out. Place the bags over jugs or bottles so that they hold themselves up. Paint a thick layer of food colouring from the tip of the piping bag to halfway down the bag. Invert the bags, then carefully spoon your meringue into piping bags - one batch should fill two bags, shaking the mixture down to the bottom of the bag. Try to get rid of any big air bubbles you can see at this stage, but don't be too rough with the mixture.
• Cut some baking parchment to the size of your baking trays. Cut off the bottom inch of the piping bag (about a 50p-sized hole) and squeeze small dollops on to the corner of your baking trays to stick the parchment down.
• Hold the piping bag with both hands, placing your dominant hand at the top of the bag and your other hand halfway down the bag. Hold the bag steady, about 2cm above the tray and squeeze the bag from the top to start forming the body of your monsters. Stop squeezing once the meringue hits the tray. Lift the piping bag a little without creating a break between the meringue on the tray and the meringue left in the piping bag. Drop the bag back down again and squeeze gently to form the top part of the monster's body.
• Repeat until you have piped all of your mixture, working quickly as the mixture will loosen over time. Bake for 40-50 mins until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Leave to cool on the baking trays.
• If you want to make your own googly eyes, do this at least 24 hrs in advance. Make 100g stiff royal icing, colouring a quarter of this black using black gel colouring. Put the white and black icing into two separate piping bags. Use scissors to snip a little hole at the tip. Carefully pipe white dots onto a parchment-lined baking tray, then leave them to set. Once dry, use the black icing for the pupils. Pipe different-shaped eyes - some big, some small, or perhaps three adjoining. Leave to set overnight until they lift off the baking parchment easily. Use more icing to stick the eyes onto the meringues. Once set, will keep for two weeks in a cool dry place in a loosely covered container.