Santa Claus meringues are fun and scenic and can also be used as place cards during the holidays. They are easy to make, most of my meringues were made by Mara, who loves the pastry bag.
The meringues are crispy and sweet and keep for several days, so you can easily prepare them in advance! We used powdered food coloring, which I prefer when it comes to meringues, as the liquid one, if used in abundance, makes the meringue mixture too runny.
If you like meringues, also try these recipes of mine:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 16 meringues
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- 2.8 oz egg whites
- 0.6 cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- as needed red food coloring (in powder form)
Steps
To prepare Santa Claus meringues, preheat the oven to 212 degrees Fahrenheit (static) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the egg whites in a bowl and start whipping them until stiff peaks form. When they begin to turn white and frothy, slowly add the sugar and salt while continuing to whip.
Continue whipping until you obtain a firm and glossy mixture. The egg whites should be whipped such that when you invert the bowl, nothing comes out!
Transfer just under half of the mixture into a pastry bag and set aside. Add the food coloring to the remaining egg whites until the desired red color is achieved.
Transfer the red meringue into a pastry bag as well.
Now, using the red meringue, starting from the top point, create the red part of Santa Claus’s hats by drawing a kind of triangle. Gently insert a wooden skewer starting from the bottom. With the white meringue, create a white tuft on the top end and a white border along the bottom of your red triangle. Your Santa Claus hat is ready. Proceed in the same way with the remaining meringue.
Bake your Santa Claus hats at 212 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, inserting the handle of a wooden spoon in the oven door so that it stays open a crack and the steam can escape. This way, the meringues can dry out.
Remove your Santa Claus meringues from the oven, let them cool, and gently detach them from the parchment paper.
