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Need an idea for a very quick, unique Christmas dessert? Our Round Cake Pop Stand turned these simple little meringue bites into an impressive Christmas display. All it is is a simple meringue piped into a tree shape using a star tip. The tree is topped with an edible star decoration and they're baked. Voila! I'll bet the Christmas parties you're going to haven't seen a meringue pop display like this one :)
I recommend inserting the lollipop stick while the meringues are still warm (and haven't hardened all the way) to make your life a lot easier.
Christmas Tree Meringue Pops, from adapted from Penguin Says Feed Me
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
125 grams granulated sugar
A pinch of vanilla extract
Green food coloring
Star shaped edible decorations
Lollipop Sticks
Round Cake Pop Stand
Preheat oven to 250 F. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add in the vanilla and beat to incorporate.
Gradually, while beating, add the sugar until glossy, firm peaks form. Once the sugar has been incorporated, add the green food colouring until the desired colour is achieved.
Scoop the meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe dollops of meringue onto parchment lined cookie sheets, keeping the bases of the trees a little over the size of a quarter. Press a star decoration into the top of the meringue tree.
Bake for 35 - 40 minutes. While meringues are still warm, use a clean awl to gently make a hole in the bottom of the meringue. Be careful! These guys can crack. Insert stick in the hole and put the stick on the Cake Pop Stand.
Check out this video of Daniel, the piping expert, making some meringue Christmas trees:
Yesterday, I made two desserts. The first is one of the most tropical, summery things I've ever made (Mango Sorbet... post to come soon). And the second is Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookies, which, taste testers agreed, "taste like Christmas!" The seasons are a little confused here in this house. But both the Christmas cookies and the summery sorbet were very well received, no matter what season it really is.
The Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies were chosen by Jamie of Random Acts of Food as this week's recipe for Club: BAKED. I've only fairly recently discovered that the combination of Chocolate and Mint is not overwhelmingly gross. Up until last summer, even the scent of mint in my desserts completely disgusted me. Daniel's Chocolate Mint oreos had to be stored in a double layer of plastic storage bag and in a separate drawer to prevent the mint aroma from infecting and absorbing into my oreos. As far as I was concerned, mint was only good in chewing gum. But after growing my own fresh mint plant and including some of it in a Chocolate Mint cookie, I realized it's actually pretty darn delicious. Chocolate and Mint seems like one of those flavor combinations you either LOVE or you HATE. Which side are you on?
I prepared this recipe exactly as written in the Baked Explorations book. I'm glad I did, because they came out terrific. I'd love to try these with fresh mint leaves! If you're making these, be prepared to have some seriously chocolatey hands! The dough, even after chilled, was very messy. But it was worth it!
Be sure to visit the Club:BAKED site to see how the other bakers fared with this recipe. And visit Random Acts of Food for the recipe.
I have always hated mint and chocolate together. I've just never understood the combination. After Eight mints disgusted me and York Peppermint patties had no appeal. Don't even get me started on Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, blegh. I didn't even like anything that had been close to mint. If my cookies were in a cookie jar that had previously held a mint cookie without being thoroughly disinfected, I wanted no part of it. It had already absorbed some of the aroma of that sneaky infectious mint.
Yes, very strong feelings for an herb. So it was very surprising to me when I recently started craving Thin Mints. I don't even know if I've ever had one, but suddenly I wanted one. Strange. So I went out and bought a fresh Mint plant and put it in our small little herb garden next to our beloved sage and basil. When it got big enough, I made these. They're like soft Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies with the added flavor of fresh Mint. Apparently, I like Chocolate and Mint together now. If you try these cookies, you just might, too.
Chocolate Mint Cookies with Fresh Mint Leaves
1 2/3 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 sticks butter, room temperature, softened
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/2 packed tablespoons Fresh Mint, chopped fine
1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 C dark chocolate chunks or chips
Preheat the oven to 375 F and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and mix until smooth.
Stir in the finely chopped mint leaves.
Add the dry ingredients in two steps, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Mix until just combined, don't over mix.
Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
Scoop by the rounded tablespoon onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Leave a good amount of space, at least 2 inches between cookie dough balls because these may spread a bit.
Bake about 8-9 minutes, removing from the oven when the cookies appear just set. For a soft cookie, make sure to not over-bake.
psst! Don't forget! They're just one more day left to enter my give-away for Free Dove Ice Cream! See details here.
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