Difficulty: 2/5
I’ve noticed lately certain craze for meringue kisses. And honestly, it makes sense because they are tiny, cute, and sweet. So obviously I had to put my version up :). First, I thought to make the meringues of coffee and a ganache filling, but then I decided also to add cocoa powder to the meringue to make them mocha flavoured :O! They were so good! If you don’t want to make them this tiny (mine where 1.5cm diameter) you can make them bigger or even make baskets, whatever you like! Just be mindful that you will need to bake them longer. I use italian meringue because it’s the one that has the smallest bubbles inside (making the meringue kisses tighter) and also it’s firmer than the swiss to make a nice tip.
Portions: 80 meringue kiss sandwiches
Ingredients:
For the meringue kisses:
– 135g sugar
– 67g egg whites
– 40ml water
– 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
– 1 tbsp instant coffee
– 1/4 tbsp water
For the ganache:
– 150g dark chocolate couverture
– 150g whipping cream
Procedure:
1. Mix the cocoa powder and coffee with 1 tbsp of hot water and dissolve readily. Let it cool to room temperature.
2. Boil the 80ml of water with the sugar until it reaches 118C
3. When it reaches 114, start whisking the egg whites only until no liquid remains. Any more will make it too stiff. Then add the sugar down the side of the bowl making sure it doesn’t touch the whisk and also (please) making sure you don’t burn yourself with this really hot syrup. Mix on full speed until you feel that the bowl has returned to room temperature.
4. Finally add the cocoa and coffee blend and mix together with the meringue. This mix will get darker in the oven so don’t think it’s too light. As a parenthesis, I must add that at this point, my mom already wanted to eat it as it was.
5. Pipe the mix on a silpat mat or baking paper and put in the oven at 120 for 1hr30min. It takes longer than normal (1 hr) because of that little extra water we add with the coffee. I did mine really tiny (1.5cm diameter) because I wanted them to be really small and cute, but you can make them the size you like. If you make them bigger, they do need to go a longer time in the oven. 
6. Make the ganache now 🙂 Start by melting the chocolate in a slightly simmering bain marie and heating the cream just until it steams. This is the foolproof method :)!
7. Put the cream on top all at once and start mixing with a spatula at the center. Slowly you will see how it starts to incorporate on its own.
8. Let it cool to room temperature. I helped it using an ice bath (just 3-4 cubes, don’t shock it) until it becomes thick enough to pipe so that it doesn’t go al over the place.
9. Pipe this on one kiss and make a sandwich with another kiss and done!
I love these, they are really nice and cute, aren’t they? I hope you like this recipe just like I did and you try it at home!
