Lemon meringue kisses

This weekend I’d planned to go for a run – a really long run as I head towards a first half marathon of the year in a couple of weeks. This was the plan…..then it started raining sideways, and a niggle in the knee from last week felt a bit rubbish, so I decided not to go, but instead stay in and bake….a much better idea!

After half an hour browsing through books with a cup of tea (which has to be one of my favourite ways to spoil myself and relax), I’d decided to make these – little lemon and vanilla meringues sandwiched together with fresh lemon curd.

For the meringues I used:

• 2 egg whites
• 150g caster sugar
• zest of 1 lemon – finely chopped
• little bit of vanilla extract

To make the meringues just whisk the egg whites, before gradually adding in the caster sugar – it should turn shiny and thick. I mixed in the lemon zest and vanilla at the end, then put the mix into a piping bag. I’d read something online about getting a lovely strip of colour along one side of the meringue by painting a line of food colouring down the side of the piping bag so gave it a go – it definitely worked but I think perhaps a wider stripe with more food colouring would be better in making the stripe more vibrant.

The lemon curd was exactly the same as I used in the lemon macarons I posted about recently, and it worked equally well between the meringues.

I think they look really pretty, and it’s definitely an idea I’ll be experimenting more with – there are so many nice flavorings and colours that could go in the meringue, and yummy things that would stick them together. One word of warning though – they are dangerously more-ish! A couple of friends helped me make short work of these after dinner so quickly that we almost forgot to photograph them!