Skittle Meringues

It was my turn to bring dessert for game night tonight, so I asked my hubby what I should make. He suggested M&M cookies, but with Skittles just to freak everyone out. I said that was kind of a jerk move. So then he suggested M&M AND Skittles cookies. I said that was a super jerk thing to do, but it did inspire me to do something tasty with Skittles. Who doesn't love intensely artificial-flavored candy-coated corn syrup? So I googled "Skittles Recipes" ... and was very disappointed in the lack of creativity the Intertubes have displayed when it comes to rainbow-flavored candies. First, I found a recipe for meringues that just put Skittles on top. I've got a soft spot in my heart for a good meringue. Schaum torte is possibly the most amazing sugar coma in the world and it brings back great memories with my Grandma, so yeah, I <3 meringue. That said, I know meringues are challenging and a lot of work, so I wasn't sold on that idea. Then, I found this video:

Skittle flavored sugar? YES, PLEASE. And so the idea for Skittle-flavored meringue cookies was born.

Strawberry-Lime Skittle Meringues with a Skittle duck

I'm SUPER happy with how they turned out, especially given the mess and the time and the Skittle soup and the humidity and everything else that was working against me today (more on that later). They've got all the crunch you want in a good meringue, and this beautiful creamy texture and a punch of tangy lime and sweet strawberry. This is NOT a recipe for the faint of heart or the time constrained, but here it goes:

Skittle Meringue Cookies

Equipment

Food processor or high-quality blender

Cookie sheet or jelly roll pans

Parchment Paper

Electric mixer and a very, very clean bowl

Spatula

Assorted small bowls

Rose frosting tip

Piping bag

Ingredients

2 lbs of Skittles, separated into colors

4 egg whites with absolutely no yolk

Fine grained white sugar (depending on the yield of your Skittles sugar)

2/3s of one fresh lemon, or approx 2 tsp cream of tartar (I was out)

Make the Skittle sugar
Follow the video tutorial linked above to make Skittle sugar. I separated each of my colors into small bowls, and then pulsed each in my Ninja food processor with about 8 or 10 drops of food coloring for at least 30 seconds. A few colors took longer. A couple words of wisdom:

• I saved a few Skittles to put on the top of the meringues. Don't do that. They end up really chewy and it's not a good contrast to the crunchiness of the meringue.
• Use gel food coloring, not the stuff that comes in easter egg dying kits. I used the cheap stuff on my orange Skittles, and I think it had too much liquid and I ended up with mush, not sugar.
• Use a good metal baking sheet with parchment paper. I tried using a glass baking dish for the my orange and yellow Skittles, and I ended up with something the consistency of Play-Do. But hey - I made a duck out of it. His name is Albert.

• I only left my sugar to dry in the oven for about 90 minutes at 200 degrees. It could have used more time, but I was in a hurry. To make up for it, I put it back in the food processor before sifting it.
• The toaster oven works well too! I put my red Skittles in my toaster oven at 180 degrees for the same amount of time, and they came out probably the best of any of them.
• If you have a hot spot in your oven and part of your sugar gets especially gooey, don't put that section in your food processor for the second time. The gooeyness will cause your entire batch to clump together and you'll lose even more yield.
• Take your fingers and really press your processed sugar against your strainer's mesh. You'll get a ton more out of it than just simple sifting.
• I tried to do all five colors at a time. With two pounds of Skittles, you only need two colors to make a decent batch of meringues. If I do this again, I'll only dry two colors at a time.

Making the Meringue
Once you have your Skittle sugar, pull out your electric mixer. I used the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid stand mixer, but in retrospect, I really should have used the whisk. Make sure it's super clean. According to the interwebs, a spec of oil or water is all it takes to ruin a meringue. This is the first time I've tried making meringue, and my second batch failed for an unknown reason, but I suspect it was either my wet bowl, a bit of egg yolk in my whites, or I didn't whip the egg whites long enough before adding the sugar.

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Cut your lemon into thirds.
3. Put two egg whites into your mixer and whip on medium until foamy.
4. Add the juice from one of your lemon thirds
5. Add 1/2c of one flavor of your Skittle sugar. If you don't have quite half a cup, use regular super fine sugar to fill.
6. Whip on medium until soft peaks form, then increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form. For my first batch (lime Skittles), this took about 20 minutes from egg whites to stiff peaks. For the strawberry batch, I was never able to get beyond soft peaks.
7. While it's whipping, line baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Put the meringue in the piping bag, and pipe tight spiral roses, or any other shape you desire.
9. Clean your equipment, and repeat with another flavor of sugar for the second batch.
10. If one of your batches doesn't turn out (like mine), instead of piping roses or other shapes, drizzle the meringue over the top of your first batch for a decorative flair. Or, pour it out flat and bake it, then break it upa nd serve over ice cream.
11. Bake the meringue. The recipe I based mine off of suggested 90-120 minutes. It's real humid today, so mine took considerably longer to dry out. I left it in the oven for 2 hours and 45 minutes. I recommend checking at 90 though. Your meringue should be dry, not tacky, but also not brown. It should pull away relatively easily from the parchment paper.
12. Open the oven door and let them cool on the pan. When the pans are cool enough to handle without hot mitts, remove the meringues and serve.

Enjoy your beautiful light, airy, Skittles Meringues! I served my lime ones with strawberry drizzle plain, and the strawberry pieces with a sea salt vanilla and fudge swirled ice cream. I think they'd also be tasty with sorbet. You could also make them bigger and serve them with strawberries, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream just like a traditional Schaum Torte. Either way, they'll be delicious. Enjoy!