Festive Meringue Mushrooms

These homemade meringue mushrooms are like tiny toadstools straight out of a festive fairy tale! They make a delightful sweet treat or can be used as Christmas cake decorations to add a touch of whimsical magic. Here’s the recipe for these easy mushroom meringues.

This recipe is kindly sponsored by Tala Cooking.

Ingredients for Festive Meringue Mushrooms

To make these meringue mushrooms, you will need:

• Egg whites – use large eggs at room temperature.
• White wine vinegar – the acidic nature of the vinegar helps in the texture and structure of the meringue. If you don’t have white wine vinegar, you can use lemon juice instead.
• White caster sugar – this is the basis of the meringue and what gives it its delicious sweet taste and marshmallowy centre.
• Red food colouring – use a liquid-based food colouring to get that vibrant red colour on your toadstools.
• Cocoa powder – a dusting of cocoa powder decorates the white meringues to give them a realistic mushroom appearance.

Quick Recipe Success Tips

• Baking tray tips: The Tala Performance Baking Tray 34.5 x 24.2 x 2cm is the perfect size for this recipe and results in an even bake every time. No brown spots which is ideal when making meringues. The tray also has a non-stick coating and comes with a 10-year guarantee.
• Check the meringue has reached stiff peaks: The meringue needs to reach very stiff peaks so the mushrooms hold their shape when piped. Test the consistency by lifting the whisk out of the bowl, the meringue should stand tall and not curl over. Also, try pinching the meringue between your forefinger and thumb, it should feel completely smooth.
• Allow the meringues to cool down in the oven: By closing the oven door and turning off the heat, you’re creating the perfect place for your cooked meringues to cool down. This will gradually cool them to room temperature to ensure they are crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, and free from cracks or collapses.
• Use as festive cake decorations: You can prep the meringue mushrooms up to 1 week in advance and then use them to decorate your favourite festive cakes, like this delicious Christmas Biscoff Bûche de Noël (Yule Log). Store the meringues in an airtight container and add them to your cake just before serving.

Festive Meringue Mushrooms

Delicious mini sweet treats, crispy on the outside with a marshmallow centre. These easy meringue mushrooms are delicious on their own or use them to top your Christmas or fairy woodland cakes.

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Prep: 30 minutes minutes

Cook: 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total: 4 hours hours

Servings: 20

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites at room temperature
• 0.25 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 115 grams white caster sugar
• red food colouring (liquid based)
• cocoa powder (for dusting)
• 25 grams icing sugar

Instructions

Start by making the meringue:

• Preheat the oven to 100ºC (fan). Line the Tala Performance Baking Tray 34.5 x 24.2 x 2cm with baking paper.
• Add the egg whites into a spotlessly clean bowl.
• Whisk on medium speed until foamy (about 3-4 minutes). Add the white wine vinegar and whisk until the meringue reaches soft peaks (about 4 minutes).
• Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar one tablespoon at a time. Continue to whisk until the meringue is shiny, thick and holds stiff peaks (about 2-3 minutes).

Pipe and bake the meringue mushrooms:

• Spoon three-quarters of the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm round piping nozzle. Set aside.
• Add the red food colouring to the remaining meringue in the mixing bowl and whisk until the colour is even. Spoon into another piping bag fitted with a 1cm round nozzle.
• Hold the piping bag of white meringue upright and pipe 20 mushroom stems by squeezing the piping bag and lifting upwards at the same time to make the meringue stand tall.
• For the mushroom tops, pipe 10 red round domed discs roughly 3cm in diameter and 10 white discs the same size.
• Bake for 90 minutes. The meringues should be hard, dry to the touch and easily lift off the baking paper.
• Close the oven door and turn the oven off completely. Let the meringues cool down inside the oven for at least 2 hours or overnight (this will prevent them from cracking when you assemble them).

Assemble and decorate the mushrooms:

• Use a sharp knife too make small holes in the bottom of the mushroom tops. Push the mushroom stems into the holes until they feel secure. The marshmallowy inside of the mushroom tops should hold the stems in place.
  
• To decorate the white mushrooms, dust a little cocoa powder on top. I used the Tala Christmas Hot Chocolate Duster.
  
• To decorate the red mushrooms, mix the icing sugar with a few drops of water to make a thick white icing. Transfer to a piping bag and snip off the top to make a small hole. Pipe dots of icing on top of the mushroom.
  
• Leave them to set, and then use to decorate your festive bakes!

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