United States
Cooking time - 110 mins
Serves - 8
Difficulty - not too tricky
Ingredients
- 500g/17.6oz caster sugar
- 250g/8.8oz egg whites
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- ¼ tsp pumpkin spice mix, optional (¼ tsp each ground nutmeg, cinnamon and ground ginger)
- Melted chocolate for eyes and mouth decorations
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C/392°F.
- Put the caster sugar in your Whatever Pan lined with baking paper. Shake contents around to spread the sugar evenly and heat in the oven for 5 mins until hot but not melting.
- Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a plastic bowl then whisk using an electric mixer. Start on a low setting and gradually increase the speed until the egg whites are stiff. Do this for about 5 mins and do not over whisk.
- Reduce the oven to 110°C/230°F, leaving the door slightly open to help it cool down quickly – the meringues need to be baked at a lower temperature.
- Turn the mixer up to full speed and start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. If you see the mixture start to collapse, stop adding sugar and allow it to stiffen before adding the rest.
- Once all the sugar has been added, keep whisking on at full speed until you have a stiff mixture. If using, add the pumpkin spice flavouring to your meringue mix and gently fold it through with a wooden spoon. Fill up the piping bags with the meringue mix.
- Cut some baking paper to fit the size of your Whatever Pan. Cut off the tip of the piping bag and squeeze a small amount onto the corner of your pan to stick the paper down.
- Hold the piping bag at the top and the bottom and gently start forming the body of your ghost. Keep the bag very still while squeezing. Repeat until you have no more mixture left and be sure to work as quickly as you can otherwise your mixture will loosen up over time.
- Bake for 40-50 mins until crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Leave to cool on the baking trays and once cooled you can start decorating your ghosts. Get your melted chocolate and with a toothpick gently draw on eyes and an open mouth. Enjoy!
