Meringue Words

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan180°, 400°F, Gas 6.

Tip the sugar onto one of the baking trays and spread it out in an even layer. Warm through on the middle shelf of the oven for about 3-4 minutes or until the sugar feel hot to touch and has lightly coloured, stirring once. Don’t let it caramelize. Pour into a small bowl.

Reduce the oven heat down to its lowest, 110°C/Fan90°C, 225°F, Gas ¼.

As soon as the sugar is ready, using an electric mixer, add the whites to the bowl and whisk at high speed until it is light and foamy, for about 1 minute. Slowly add the hot sugar, a dessertspoon at a time, and continue whisking until the mixture has cooled and is very thick and glossy. Scrape down the sides halfway through. This will take about 5 minutes.

Turn the sides of the piping bag down to the nozzle and, using a paintbrush, paint 3 lengths of one of the food colour pastes from the nozzle to about 10cm (4”) upwards. Carefully spoon in some of the meringue, and carefully pull the bag upwards over the nozzle and use a little to stick down the paper on the baking tray. Alternatively, if you’re not using nozzles, just use the bags with the tips snipped off with a pair of scissors. Pipe some letters on the baking trays, slightly spaced apart. Then repeat with the rest of the meringue and your chosen food colours.

Bake on the top and middle shelves of the oven for 1 hour, swapping the trays over halfway through. The meringues are ready when they are crisp on the outside and the bases are dry and not at all sticky. Turn off the oven and leave them to cool in the oven for a few hours or overnight.