Meringue Mushrooms

170 g whites, from 5-6 eggs
255 g sugar or toasted sugar

1/4 t salt

1/4 t cream of tartar

1 T vanilla extract

cocoa powder, regular or dutch process

alternatively, powdered sugar

4 oz dark chocolate or candy melts

Adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower middle positions.

Preheat oven to 175° fan (recommended is 200-225 regular).

Line 3 baking sheets with parchment.

Fit two large pastry bags with a 1/2" tip and a 1/4" tip.

Fashion a stand mixer bowl into a double boiler.

Combine whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar.

Stirring constantly, cook 8-10 mins or until 175°.

With a whisk attachment, whisk 5 mins or until glossy stiff peaks.

Reduce speed to medium low and add vanilla.
Pipe mushroom caps and stems with at least 1/2" space between.

Will yield about 180 pieces.

Smoothing with a wet finger will both soften and deform the shape.
This makes them look more like real mushrooms :)

Or you can keep pointier tips for a more whimsical mushroom.

Bake 5 hours or until meringues are dry and pull easily from parchment.

They will have turned a light beige.
Turn off heat and cool 4 hours or until room temperature inside oven.

Lightly dust each tray with cocoa powder or powdered sugar.

Paint dust onto each piece so that it's no longer sticky.

Organize half the pieces to be caps and half to be stems.

Organize 2 trays filled with sugar.

Nestle each mushroom cap upside down into sugar.

Dust each flat surface.

Temper chocolate and put in a piping bag.

Pipe about 5 caps at a time.

Flatten top of mushroom stem by pinching or twisting into a flat surface.

Glue flattened stem onto cap with tempered chocolate (Wilton tip 5).

Let mushrooms cure upside down.

Mushrooms must be kept at cool room temp in a totally airtight container.

When ready to serve, us a foodsafe paintbrush to knock off excess sugar.

seriouseats