Orange Blossom Mini Meringues

If you're anything like me, you will find it nearly impossible to eat a meal without following it with something sweet. Even if it's something tiny, its really damn hard to think about anything else but a quick sugar fix. No matter how perfect, how wonderfully scrumptious your meal may be, it's never complete without some sweetness. Well these tiny, chewy meringues will nip that craving right in the bottom!


I was traipsing through the supermarket for rather a long time last week searching for rose water (This is Bridget Jones for Sit Up Britain, searching for rosewater), and found none! A rosewater famine, people! Although I did find some rose pink food colouring that creates a lovely blush colour, an unlikely compromise.


I impulsively wandered into the "Wild Food" market and saw a small bottle of orange blossom water, an ingredient usually found and used in Middle Eastern desserts. It has a taste that you can't quite put your finger on... it lingers at the back of your mind and you know you have tasted it before but you can't remember where. More complex and sweeter than rosewater, I like it a whole bunch more. A jar of these little rosy tinged babies will transform your afternoon cup of tea, into afternoon delight!

Orange Blossom Mini Meringues:

Makes about 30 meringues

3 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 drops "rose pink" liquid food colouring
1.5 teaspoons orange blossom water

Preheat oven to 120 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment. Whip egg whites with the salt in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Add the orange water and the food colouring. Gradually add the sugar and continue whipping until the mixture is glossy, very thick and all the sugar has dissolved - check this by rubbing a little bit in between your fingers, if it is smooth then the sugar has dissolved. Spoon the mixture using a large metal spoon into a piping bag with a zig-zag nozzle. Carefully pipe little meringues onto the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, turn off the oven and let them cool completely in the oven with the door slightly ajar for about 45 minutes. Keep in an airtight container.