This is the final of my [insert excuse for being late] holiday posts for the year. These could be eaten all year round, though, if you’re obsessed with peppermint like I am.

Yum, right? I went to my friend Nicole’s house to make these. 

You might remember that Nicole and I made meringues together last time. This is similar, except it was Christmastime and Nicole is pregnant, so keep reading.

Step 1: Gather ingredients: Sugar, egg whites, peppermint extract. 

The crushed candy canes are for the top.

Step 2: Trace circles onto parchment using a cookie cutter. 

So handy!

Step 3: Heat egg whites and sugar in the bowl of the mixer over a pot of simmering water. 

Step 4: Whisk on medium-high until stiff peaks form. 

Thank goodness Nicole and her motherly instincts were there. What I thought were stiff peaks were not, and she saved the day.

Step 5: Add peppermint extract. 

Step 6: Using a food-safe paintbrush, paint 3 stripes of red food coloring up the inside of a pastry bag. 

Hmm…I’m not sure what you mean by “food safe,” so I went with “not RoseArt.”

Step 7: Transfer egg-white mixture to pastry bag. 

Nicole! Don’t stress yourself out! The baby is going to get worked up!

Whoops, it got a little too full.

Step 8: Pipe coils to fill each traced circle. 

These didn’t really look mini, but they smelled good!

I promise I used food coloring and not that unfortuately-placed red nail polish. Look at the top of that bag. Uhhh…

Oops.

Step 9: Brush your teeth.

Don’t judge. It looked and smelled like toothpaste.

Step 10: Bake until meringue cups are crisp and lift off parchment easily. 

While you wait…

Step 11: Make ganache. Bring heavy cream to a gentle simmer. 

Step 12: Pour cream over chocolate and stir until smooth. Refrigerate until firm. 

Yum.

Step 13: After 1 hour and 30 minutes, take meringues out. 

They weren’t done.

Step 14: After 2 hours, take meringues out. 

They still weren’t done! WHAT THE HELL?

Step 15: Wait some more. 

Poor Nicole. That fetus is draining her energy!

Step 16: Give up and pull them off the sheet. 

Step 17: Pipe ganache into the center of the cups. 

Step 18: Sprinkle with candy cane bits. 

They turned out to be pretty good. They tasted great and the texture was pretty good too. They weren’t as firm as the Mocha Chip Meringues we made before, but that’s okay (I thought).

Link to original recipe

Yields: 32
I got: 27 (they were a little big)

Start time: 1:15
End time: 4:45 (3 hours, 30 minutes)
Martha’s estimated time: 2 hours

What did I learn?

• Don’t overfill your pastry bag.

What do I need to learn? 

• When is your pastry bag “full”?
• Why did they take almost twice as long than directed?

So here we are, smiling through our frustration. They did turn out looking pretty.

BUT WAIT! The next day, this happened!

Um, gross! They started melting and sweating! I couldn’t even share these. What. A. Disaster.

Help! What happened?