Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 150 g sugar
• 150 g castor sugar
• Flavouring - a few drops of vanilla, almond essence.

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 120 °C
2. Beat egg whites until stiff.
3. Gradually add sugar; beat until dissolved and the mixture is stiff.
4. Slowly fold in castor sugar.
5. Add flavouring.
6. Place in spoonfuls on a tray lined with grease proof (brown) paper or a silicone baking matt.
7. Bake for about 1 hour, depending on size.

Best served: Warm (straight from baking) or room temperature

Preparation Notes

Duck egg whites take much longer to stiffen, but taste excellent.

While vanilla and almond are traditional, any essence will work. Mint, orange and star anise are all favorites around my house.

Liqueur can be used for flavouring, instead of essence; I particularly like Grand Marnier and Licor Anise Cristalizado. I find ~30 ml of liqueur about right, be careful as adding too much will cause the mixture to flatten. Use less of low viscosity flavorings to avoid this.

Don’t store different flavors together as the flavors will homogenize.

If making a multiple batch, it’s best to mix each sub-batch just before putting in the oven rather than doing it all together and letting it sit on the counter, the fridge is also a bad place to store pre-mixed batter as both end up with a batter that doesn’t hold its shape.

Storage

• Storage: Air tight container at room temperature
• Freezer: No
• Reheat: No