These are pretty simple, but really good! They're just simple baked meringues with a bit of cocoa and dark chocolate stirred in. But they're pleasantly crisp on the outside and soft in the centre, with just a bit of chew to them. I suspect that comes from using a Swiss (rather than French) meringue as the base. You can get French meringues that are crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, but in my experience, they're normally more fluffy than chewy.

I always find Swiss meringues a bit trickier to get right and somewhat more difficult to get to the stiff peak stage. They never seem to have quite as much structure as a good French meringue. And, of course, mixing them over the double boiler is always a bit of a faff. But sometimes it's necessary to get the desired result. And I was quite happy with the results I got here! Although I did have to adjust the sugar a fair bit. This seemed to be another case of compounded rounding errors. The measurements for the sugar were given as 1 3/4 c. (14 oz./440g). But 14 oz. is only ~392g. And, unlike flour (which can vary a fair bit based on how you measure it), sugar tends to be a fairly consistent 200g/cup. So, 1 3/4 c. should be a neat 350g, not 440 or 392!

Chocolate Meringues

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 7 large egg whites
• 350g sugar
• 30g natural cocoa powder
• 125g dark chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Bring a pot of water to a simmer.
3. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heat-proof bowl.
4. Place the bowl over the simmering water and beat vigorously until sugar dissolves completely and mixture becomes opaque.
5. Remove from heat and beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Sift in cocoa powder and add dark chocolate. Carefully fold ingredients together until mixed.
7. Spoon large dollops of meringue onto the prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake at 180°C (350*deg;F) for 9 minutes.
9. Rotate and swapt the trays and bake for another 9 minutes.
10. Transfer to wire racks to cool.