Meringue Mushrooms

Yield: roughly 2 dozen mushrooms

Ingredients

Mushrooms:

2 large egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp kosher salt
⅓ (66g) cup granulated sugar
⅓ (38g) cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
unsweetened cocoa powder (for dusting)

For Assembly:

2 ounces (57g) bittersweet chocolate, melted & cooled slightly

Directions

Heat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a little bit of lemon juice or white vinegar, wipe down all tools that will touch the meringue. Your meringue will not set up properly if there is any residual grease or fat on your tools.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites and salt on medium-high speed until foamy.
With mixer running, gradually add granulated sugar, then beat on medium to medium-high until stiff, glossy peaks have formed.
Add confectioners’ sugar and vinegar, then beat until meringue is rather dense and the peaks are still stiff and glossy.
Using a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip, pipe 1–1 ½" tall cones and 1" circles onto prepared baking sheet. (These are your mushroom stems and caps, respectively.)
NOTE: We found this video about piping meringue mushrooms to be extremely helpful. And don’t worry about making your shroomies too perfect! You want them to be a little wonky because then they’ll look more realistic.
Dust mushroom caps with cocoa powder to make them forest floor chic.
Bake until meringues are dry (1 ½ to 2 hours), rotating pan halfway through.
Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Once mushroom pieces are totally cool, use a small paring knife to cut the pointy tops off of your stems. Spread a little melted chocolate on the bottom of caps and attach stems. Let chocolate harden.
Now you have some super sweet edible mushrooms to decorate fun bakes, like our Moss Cake with Woodland Grapefruit Buttercream!

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