Mini meringues

Confession: these are totally a copycat.  I stole the idea from a bakery I was in a few weeks ago, where, when buying a marzipan challah, which I will never -- despite how badly I'd love to -- be able to bake, I saw a bag of mini tri-colored meringues for sale.  They were Valentine's-y colors and so cute....and had a pretty hefty price tag on them for what they were...so I decided I'd bake some up myself for B and I for Valentine's Day.

I actually decided to make these easy on myself (crazy, I know, right?), and despite deciding to make something in three different colors, I figured I could slowly add the food coloring to the meringues in two steps, to get gradations of color.  Pretty sneaky -- and efficient -- right?

I've made meringues hundreds of times.  They're a go-to Passover recipe in our family.  But I always forget the proportions of sugar to egg white to cream of tartar to salt to vanilla, so I googled it and found this recipe.  If you have a go-to meringue recipe that you use, go ahead and use that one, and just jump on in at the point when I talk about food coloring and piping.

Check out just how mini they are!
These are next to a regular Valentine's conversation heart!!

Tri Colored Valentine's Day Mini Meringues
Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

3 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp clear or regular vanilla extract (or any other flavor you'd like -- I debated strawberry for my pink ones)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
"dash" of salt
2/3 cups sugar

red food coloring

Directions:

Place egg whites in a small bowl.
Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 250F.
Add vanilla, cream of tartar, egg whites, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Beat on medium speed until foamy.
Gradually add sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time.
Beat on high after each addition until sugar is dissolved.
Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Place a small star or decorative piping tip on a piping bag (I used a Wilton 22).
Add about 1/3 of the mixture to the piping bag.
Pipe mini meringues onto the prepared baking sheet, about 1-1.5" apart.

Once done piping the white meringues, add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining mixture.
Beat until color is incorporated and the desired pink color has been reached.
Remove 1/2 of the mixture and repeat the piping process.

Once done piping the pink meringues, add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining mixture.
Beat until color is incorporated and keep adding drops until the desired red color has been reached.
Add the remaining red mixture to a piping bag and repeat the piping process.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until firm to the touch (my mini ones took 25 minutes).
Turn off oven (do not open oven door).
Leave meringues in the oven for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheets.

Once cool, remove meringues from the baking sheet.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

FYI I got 450 -- yup, four hundred and fifty -- mini meringues!!