Meringue Snowballs

Simple to make yet impressive looking, Dorie Greenspan's meringues are lovely on their own or alongside ice cream and fruit. You can tint the mixture with food coloring and decorate with any toppings you like. Note: Leave the egg whites at room temperature for an hour to achieve maximum volume in the meringue. Preheat oven to 250°F. Place rack in center of oven. Push 2 Tbsp powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp granulated sugar through a fine-mesh sieve; set aside. With a mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat 3 large egg whites (at room temperature), 1⁄4 tsp cream of

tartar and a pinch of salt on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time. After all sugar is incorporated, beat 2 minutes or until stiff, glossy white peaks form. Fold in reserved sugar mixture. For tinted meringues, scoop one-third of egg white mixture into a separate bowl; tint as desired with food coloring and gently fold into remaining egg white mixture. Use a tablespoon or large cookie scoop to heap 10 “snowballs” on a parchmentlined baking sheet. Decorate, as desired, with crushed candy canes, candied orange peel, chopped candied ginger, coconut and slivered or finely chopped nuts. Bake 75 minutes or until meringues have puffed and cracked. Turn off heat, prop oven door open and let meringues finish baking and drying for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Makes 10.