Meringues

Instructions

1. Whisk the whites of 4 eggs to a stiff froth, and with a wooden spoon stir the sifted sugar quickly into the whites.
2. Have ready some thin wooden boards, and cut strips of paper two inches wide.
3. Place the paper on the board and drop a tablespoonful of the mixture on the paper, taking care to let all the meringues be of the same size. In dropping it off the spoon, give them the shape of an egg (if a tablespoonful is taken and carefully turned over, it is egg-shaped). Keep them two inches apart.
4. Strew sifted sugar over them, and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. As they begin to colour, take them out of the oven.
5. Take each slip of paper by the two ends, turn it gently on the table, and with a small spoon take out the soft part of the meringue.
6. Spread some clean papers on the board, turn the meringues upside down, and put them into the oven again to harden and brown on the other side.
7. If kept in a dry place they will keep for weeks.
8. When required for table, fill them with whipped cream flavoured with liqueur (Vanderhum) and vanilla. Join two of them together, and pile them high on the dish.
9. Great quickness is required in making meringues, for if they are not put into the oven as soon as they are mixed the sugar melts. The sweeter the meringues are made the crisper they will be; they are sometimes coloured with cochineal. This quantity will make two dozen.