Lemony Meringues!!

So, since I was working Monday (egg day at the Spoon!!), I got to take home a pint of delicious eggwhites! One of the easiest, most versatile things you can make with these is meringue. It's one of the most basic French dessert techniques. Today, I decided to try making lemon meringues, chock-o-block full of lemon zest. I pretty much just built off the Jaques Pépin recipe:


1/2 (give or take) cup egg whites (4-ish whites)
1 cup sugar
zest of four lemons

1. Beat whites until they begin to hold their shape
2. Beat in 1/2 cup sugar, continuing to beat until shiny and stiff
3. Fold in the sugar and lemon zest, a bit at a time
4. Pipe or spoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets
5. Bake at 200°F for 2.5 hours

These came out quite well, I think. They're crisp and crunchy, and plenty sweet, with a definite citrus flavour. They retained the yellow colour imparted by the lemon zest, although they did caramelise a little bit. I'm very happy with these, although I think they could suffer a pinch of salt to balance the sugar, and maybe a drip or two of lemon juice to give them just a little more tartness. Experiments for next time!