Christmas Gifts

It is that time of year again, Fa la la la la la.... I love making gifts for people and sharing Christmas cheer, its sooooo much fun. Last year I made some biscottis and chocolate ganache candy. The biscottis were presented in cellophane bags and tied with a big Christmas ribbon and the chocolate ganache candies were decorated individually with coffee beans, blanched almonds, dried fruit and chocolate sprinkles and presented in a decorated Christmas box. They looked awesome and I know the chocolates went down well.

This year I have had  lots of ideas and have settled on two ideas. Unfortunately I can't share these with you as I know my friends will read this post. So today I am going to share with you my meringue snowmen, which I plan to take to work for our Christmas potluck. As for my Christmas Gifts I will share these with you once I have exchanged gifts!!!

Meringue Snowmen

2 Egg Whites (room temperature)

3/4 Cup Sifted Icing Sugar

Small pinch Cream of Tartar

It is best to get all the ingredients ready prior to starting the recipe and preheat the oven to 200 degrees. In a large clean mixing bowl add the egg whites and cream of tartar and whisk (electric whisks are the best) on a medium speed until the eggs become a little frothy. At this stage spoon in the icing sugar over a two minute period. Continue to whisk the eggs white mixture until it is shiny and forming stiff peaks. Try not to stop the whisk , it should take about 10 -15 minutes to get the right texture. Fill a piping bag with the meringue, the best way to do this is to put the piping bag into a large glass and roll the excess piping bag over the sides of the glass. Squeeze the meringue down into the piping bag by rolling down the top.

Pipe the meringue in circles onto a a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can make as many snowmen as you wish.. Bake on the middle shelf for an hour then 30 minutes with the door ajar (wedge a wooden spoon between the door and the oven) then turn the oven off and allow the meringues to cool to room temperature whilst remaining in the oven. You can decorate them and give them eyes with the addition of Chocolate chips. If you want to make snowballs you can sandwich two meringues together with whipped cream, or melted chocolates.