Lemon meringue kisses

A good kiss should be soft on the lips, tingle the tongue and leave you wanting another. Be prepared to fall in love with these meringue kisses. They've stolen our hearts.

Credit: China Squirrel

• makes

  24

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  2:30 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Meringue

• 4 eggwhites, at room temperature
• 220 g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 1 pinch cream of tartar

Lemon curd

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 80 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
• ½ tsp grated lemon rind
• 50 g unsalted butter, chopped

Cooling time 2 hours

Instructions

To make the meringue, preheat oven to 120°C. Line 4 baking trays with baking paper.

Place eggwhites into a clean, dry large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cream of tartar and beat a further 2 minutes or until thick and glossy. Working in batches, spoon meringue into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5 cm plain nozzle. Pipe 5 cm rounds onto trays, allow room for spreading.

Lower oven temperature to 100ºC. Place meringues into oven and bake for 2½ hours or until meringues are crisp and sound hollow when tapped.

Turn oven off and allow meringues to cool in oven, about 3 hours.

To assemble: spread the base of a meringue with lemon curd then gently sandwich together with another meringue, repeat with remaining meringues.  Best eaten immediately.

Lemon curd:

Strain egg yolks and lemon juice through a fine sieve into a small heatproof bowl. Add sugar and mix well. Place heatproof bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the base does not touch water. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixtures thickens and coats the back of the spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove bowl from simmering water and place onto a wooden board. Stir in lemon rind; gradually add butter pieces, stirring until well combined. Cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap or baking paper. Refrigerate until cold and firm, about 2 hours.

Photography, styling and food preparation by China Squirrel.

This recipe is from Cookie Scout, our weekend cookie project. Bake with us. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.