Gorgeous Green Matcha Meringues

A simple French meringue, flavoured with matcha powder, dipped in dark chocolate. Light and lovely.


What  you need:

2 egg whites, 125 g caster sugar, 1 tablepsoon of matcha (green tea) powder (more if you love the stuff), 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar, and a little green food colouring paste if you want a more vibrant colour (the matcha colour pales a lot during baking). You'll also want an electric whisk,a piping bag and a star tip, along with the usual kitchen paraphenalia.

What you do:

• Preheat the oven to 150 C (300 F/Gas 2). Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

• First, whip your egg whites until they get foamy. At this stage add the cream of tartar and continue whipping until you get stiff peaks, where the whites remain standing tall when you take the whisk away.

• Now you can begin slowly adding the sugar, a spoonful at a time. Make sure that each new spoonful is incorporated before you add the next. Continue beating until the mixture turns smooth and glossy. This takes a while, up to ten minutes, but it's worth for a light, delicate meringue.

• Once the sugar has dissolved, add the matcha and beat until combined. If you' re using extra foiod colouring, add this too.

• Spoon the meringue into a piping bag and pipe small stars onto the baking tray.

• Put the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until dry. Turn off the oven, crack the door open & leave the meringues in there to cool.

• When cool remove from the oven. For an extra touch dip the bases of the meringues in melted chocolate. Handle them carefully, as the shells are very fragile.

• Store in an air tight container for up to a week.