Sometimes I see a recipe and I have directly a person in mind who would be like it as small treat.

That happened to me, when I saw the little meringue mushrooms on Food52 shortly before christmas. At this time it was already to late but I kept it in mind the whole year and made it this week as little Christmas present for someone who loves to go on a mushroom foray.

And I was surprised who simple they are made. Who ever made some meringue before will do this easily. You just have to pipe flat, round hats with a big piping tip. The stems are made by moving the tip slowly  upwards and the lamella are made by dipping the bottom side of the hat into molten chocolate. You see, it is really easy to do but the effect is great!

A perfect gift for mushroom fan!

Meringue Mushrooms

yields 20 Mushrooms

Meringue

• 3 egg whites (of eggs size M)
• 1 Pinch salt
• 180g fein sugar

For the finish

• 50g semi sweet chocolate
• cacao

Whip egg whites with salt until soft peaks. Add the sugar gradually and whip until the sugar is dissolved.

Now pipe with a 1.5 cm tip the hats and the stems. The hats sould be flat and round with an diameter of 5 cm, the stems slim and high by moving the piping bag upwards while piping. Dip a finger into water and smooth the top of the top of the hats.

Bake at 100°C for about 1-1,5 hours until the meringue are dry and crisp.

Let cool down, then carefully cut the tip of stems to create a flat plane.

Melt the chocolate and dip the bottom of the hats in the chocolate and place it on a stem. Let the chocolate set, then finish the mushrooms by dusting a little bit cacao as “dirt” on them for an authentic look.

For brown mushrooms dip your finger in some chocolate and spread the chocolate very thinly over the surface of the mushrooms.