Lemon meringues

Lemon meringues are classic white meringues sandwiched together with a delicious lemon cream. They are definitely my favourite meringues from now on :). They are less sweet and more refreshing than traditional meringues, thanks to the addition of lemon juice and the lemon cream filling. Highly recommended!

Recipe makes 30 sandwich cookies.

Ingredients for the meringues:

• 6 egg whites (240 g), from large eggs
• a pinch of salt
• 360 g caster sugar
• freshly squeezed juice of 1 small lemon
• 2 teaspoons potato starch

The egg whites are best at room temperature – they will produce the greatest volume when whipped. However, this is not essential.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a mixer and start whisking. Once they are lightly foamy, add the pinch of salt and continue whisking on high speed until you have a thick, stiff foam. You can quickly test this by turning the bowl upside down – the egg whites should hold firmly to the bottom of the bowl. At this stage, be careful not to overbeat the egg whites. Overbeaten egg whites will look curdled, forming clumps and beginning to release liquid. If this happens, discard them and start the whole process again. Gradually add the caster sugar to the whipped egg whites, one tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously on high speed after each addition. Note: The most common mistake is adding all the sugar quickly in one go, before it has had a chance to stabilise the foam and dissolve into it during whisking; the resulting mixture will be runny and the meringues will not work. The sugar should dissolve completely into the meringue mixture, which you can check by rubbing a little of the mixture between your fingertips. The finished meringue should be thick, glossy and stiff. Add the potato starch and continue whisking. Finally, slowly drizzle in the lemon juice and whisk to combine.

Line two flat baking trays with baking paper. Transfer the meringue mixture to a piping bag fitted with a decorative metal nozzle (e.g. Wilton 1M) and pipe small meringues onto the trays. Leave a little space between them as they will expand.

Bake for about 70–80 minutes at 120°C. The finished meringues should be crisp and crunchy on the outside, with a soft, marshmallow-like or slightly chewy centre. If your meringues turn beige rather than snow-white at this temperature, reduce the oven temperature and extend the baking/drying time.

Ingredients for the lemon cream:

• 200 g mascarpone
• 200 g lemon curd, e.g. from this homemade recipe

All the ingredients for the cream should be chilled. Mix the mascarpone thoroughly with the lemon curd using a spoon, or briefly with a mixer, until smooth and creamy.

Sandwich the cooled meringues together with the lemon cream, preferably just before serving. Serve.

Enjoy!