It’s that most wonderful time of the year, or it usually is without that little thing called Covid crashing the party. So lets show it the finger and share the love with sweet treats!

And what says Christmas more than candy canes? Well these peppermint kisses are essentially candy cane crispy marshmallowy treats! Very easy to make and looks endlessly impressive if you bagged up a handful of these to gift to a loved one or neighbour tis the season and all!

In the spirit of giving, this is a 2 for 1 recipe! You can split this batch and also make the incredibly cute and festive Peppermint Wreath cookies too! Definitely give them a try this Christmas!

Don’t like peppermint? Leave them plain with vanilla or get exotic and play with extracts (Orange is incredible too).

Ingredients

For the Meringue -

2 large egg whites (room temp) Use 3 if you want to also make the Wreaths (see recipe for details)

Caster sugar (double the weight of egg whites)

1 sachet / 1 tsp cream of tartar 

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp peppermint extract

Mini Marshmallows

Red gel / paste food colouring

White vinegar (for cleaning)

Festive Sprinkles - Optional

Recommended equipment -

Method

To prepare your piping bag -

Fit a large piping bag with a large open round tip. Once fitted turn down the top to stabilise the bag, and using a long thin clean paint brush, paint evenly spaced stripes of food colouring ensuring to keep the lines straight and equal distance, don’t worry if the food colouring beads up this will correct itself when filled with meringue. Once finished set aside stood upright in a tall glass to ensure no smudging.

1 - 

For this, I recommend using either a stand mixer or hand mixer. Thoroughly wash and dry your bowl and whisk and, once dry, wipe it down thoroughly with your vinegar using a paper towel. 

Preheat your oven to 100 deg C and line a large flat baking / cookie sheet with either baking parchment or a silicone sheet, then evenly space out enough mini marshmallows to cover the sheet leaving 1-2 inches space between them, we will be piping our meringue directly on top of these later, once done, set aside. 

2 - 

Carefully separate your egg whites and add them to your clean bowl set on an electronic scale. Do this one at a time in case any egg yolk or shell makes it into the mix. If the yolk breaks you will have to discard and start again. You can buy egg whiles in a carton in most shops if you would find this easier. 

Weigh the egg whites and make a note of this. In a separate bowl, weigh out double the weight of your eggs in caster sugar (for example, 100 g egg whites needs 200 g sugar). Set the sugar aside. 

3 - 

Place your egg whites, cream of tartar and salt to your clean mixing bowl and begin to mix on a low speed with a whisk attachment. After about 30 seconds, increase the speed to medium and whisk until foamy / bubbly, approximately 60 seconds. Once the eggs have become foamy, turn your mixer to medium / high speed and start to, very slowly, stream in the sugar 1 spoonful at a time, pausing slightly between spoonfuls. Keep adding your sugar gradually until you have used all of it. Whisk on high speed for 5 minutes. 

4 - 

Once the 5 minutes are up, add your peppermint and vanilla extracts, then whisk on high for a further 2 to 3 minutes. If you are making the Wreaths separate half of your mixture and see Peppermint Wreath recipe for details. Once done, stop the mixer and scoop a small amount onto a clean finger, and rub between your finger and thumb. If you feel any grains of sugar, whisk on high for another 2-3 minutes and test again. Once the mixture is completely smooth and glossy, you are ready to pipe.

5 - 

Using a piping bag with a wide open tip, pipe your Kisses on top of the mini marshmallows creating little dollops, this is achieved by holding your bag directly above the sheet squeezing until you have the size you want then stop squeezing and pull straight up to create the tip. If you do not have a piping bag you can spoon them on and smooth them out with the back of a spoon to make little swirls. Just note that you will have to forgo the stripes, this can be overcome by colouring the entire mix or adding red sprinkles to give the same effect.

6 - 

Once piped, bake your meringues in the middle of your preheated oven for 60 mins, ensuring they do not brown. You can turn the oven down and bake for longer if your oven runs on the hot side. Once the 60 mins is up, turn off the oven, do not open the door and leave to cool completely. Once the time is up, they should be fully dry and lift away from the sheet easily. If they still seem a little wet, you can bake them at 100 deg c for another 20 mins.

Once done, store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.