Peppermint Meringues with Chocolate Ganache Filling

When Miss Yunks saw Kathy was planning a Boston blogger cookie swap she knew she needed to find a really interesting cookie to make.  While flipping through a Martha Stewart magazine at her parents’ house, she found a recipe and photos for peppermint meringue cups filled with chocolate ganache. That’ll do!

I left the magazine at home, thinking I’d be able to find the recipe online.  This was the closest I could find.  I liked the meringue cup shape I’d seen better, so I planned to follow the same recipe and pipe a cup shape instead of the kiss shape.   But, then I read the comments on Martha’s recipe and people had a lot of negative things to say.  So then I found this meringue recipe and combined both.  I’m glad I found the Joy of Baking recipe to know to use cream of tartar.  Martha Stewart leaves out this ingredient.  I used a little vanilla extract in addition to the peppermint because the peppermint smelled too strong.  Then, I started whipping my eggwhites.

I’d never made meringue before, if you couldn’t tell, and wasn’t sure how to tell when it was ready.  Then suddenly I saw the stiff peaks!

Time to start adding the sugar.  I added 2 tablespoons at a time.

When the meringue looked like whipped cream and all the sugar had been added, I got my pastry bag ready.  I used a tiny paintbrush to paint red stripes inside the bag.  I used red gel.

I filled the bag with meringue and started piping little baskets.  The first ones I piped came out how I wanted.

After that, it all went downhill.  When it was time to refill my pastry bag, the swirls never came out the same.  But, it all tasted the same.  I let the meringues set overnight.  The next day, I attempted chocolate ganache.  It was also my first time making ganache.  It seemed like a simple process, yet mine somehow failed.  I heated my cream and poured it over my chocolate, but it never hardened.  After 3 hours I still had liquid chocolate.  I thought quickly of a way to remedy the ganache and googled a bit.  I decided to whip the ganache with butter and make ganache frosting – if that’s a thing.  The chocolate was still more liquid than solid, but it was thick enough to pipe into the cups.

I kept these babies in the fridge overnight and the chocolate was hard enough by morning.  They didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted, but they were acceptable enough to bring to the cookie swap.

Everyone’s cookies looked delicious.  Here are just a few cookie photos:

Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies by Good Cook Doris

Technicolor Oreos by Free Food Boston

Chocolate Crinkle and Salted Caramel cookies by The Musing Bouche

Thanks to Kathy for organizing this cookie swap and to Whole Foods for lending us their room!

And if anyone has tips on making a perfect chocolate ganache, please share!