Kim-Joy’s Monster Meringues

Method

Step 1
Heat the oven to 120°C/100°C fan/Gas ¼.

Step 2
Put the egg white in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk and whisk on high speed until you reach soft peaks. Add the cream of tartar, then add the caster sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking for about 30 seconds between each addition, until the meringue is smooth (not gritty when you rub it between your fingers) and glossy.

Step 3
Divide the meringue equally between two bowls. Colour one bowl with the orange food-colouring gel, stirring carefully with a spatula until you reach a pale orange shade. Colour the other bowl green. Spoon each meringue into a piping bag and snip a 1cm hole in the end.

Step 4
Using the orange meringue, pipe 10 large, round blobs onto one of the lined baking sheets. These will form the monsters’ bodies. Then, pipe a small blob on top of each body, to form the heads. Using damp fingers, pinch each side of each body to form arms (it will look as though there are two little arms on each side).

Step 5
Using the green meringue, pipe 10 worm-shaped bodies on the second lined baking sheet, adding and releasing pressure on the piping bag to form ridges and sections.

Step 6
Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake the meringues for 30–35 minutes, until crispy. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool inside, without opening the door, for 20 minutes. Then, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely.

Step 7
Transfer the meringues to a serving plate and, using the edible glue and the paintbrush, stick one, two or three eyes on each monster (both the green and the orange) to make them look as weird and wonderful as you like.