Mocha Meringues Recipe

Apparently I’m on a little bit of a mocha kick. I’ve posted about my mocha scones recently, and there’s always my personal favorite mocha coffee cake. And now it’s time for a mocha meringues recipe. This isn’t because I’m focused on caffeine because I rarely drink it, and honestly, most of these recipes have very little caffeine in them (so relax, you can enjoy them late in the day and still sleep), but the flavor of mocha? Yum.

I decided to make mocha meringues last week because I had an overabundance of egg whites. I had made pineapple curd (recipe to come, I promise), which was incredibly delicious but of course I used egg yolks and no egg whites. I suppose I could have made egg white omelets, but meringues are far more fun. And this mocha meringues recipe? Fun doesn’t even begin to describe it.

The only problem with many meringues is that they may be pretty and super easy to make, but they don’t have much flavor beyond sugary air. I didn’t have mini-chocolate chips to include and debated before finally coming up with the idea of a mocha meringues recipe.

I’m so glad I did. Using cocoa powder and just a little bit of espresso gave the meringues a beautiful color and a delicate flavor that everyone in my family loved. The meringues are these light and airy confections that have a crisp exterior and a slightly chewy interior that provides a gorgeous contrast.

They are quick to whip up, and the way I always make them, they’re a perfect way to end a day of baking. Once I pipe them out, I simply set them in a warm oven and shut it off. They bake up with the residual heat and are ready to eat within a couple hours – or the next morning if I’m finishing these off right before going to bed. There’s no watching the timer or hurrying them up so I can go to bed or run errands.

Mocha Meringues Recipe

This is the perfect use for leftover egg whites. Or make these and then use your yolks to make something delicious like lemon curd or pineapple curd. The most important bit of advice I can give is to ensure that there is absolutely no fat anywhere near your meringues. Be sure your egg whites have no yolk in them at all. Be sure your bowl and beaters are clean. Wash them again if you have to. Even a speck of fat will cause your egg whites to fall and then you’re back to making egg white omelets, and as good as they can be, that’s a disappointment once you have your heart set on mocha meringues.

Start by preheating your oven to 300 degrees.

Place your egg whites and cream of tartar into your very clean metal or glass bowl and use a whisk attachment to beat your egg whites (if you have one – if not, you can use your regular beaters). Don’t use a plastic bowl; plastic and egg whites just aren’t friends. Start on a lower speed then move it up as the egg whites and cream of tartar get mixed together and start to incorporate air. Mix until soft peaks form.

Once you have soft peaks, use a clean spatula to scrape down the sides. Turn your mixer back on and slowly start to add the sugar. The meringue will get thicker and increase in volume. Once all your sugar is added, stop your mixer again and scrape down the sides once again. Add the cocoa powder and espresso, then turn the mixer back on, slowly at first so the cocoa powder doesn’t go flying into the air. Bring it back up to speed and whip until it forms stiff peaks. It will be thick and shiny at that point.

Once the meringue is fully beaten, prep a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, go ahead and use a gallon size baggie, which will work just as well. Snip a corner with a half inch size hole once you have added all the meringue to the piping bag.

I tend to use a normal, fairly wide, round tip for this mocha meringues recipe. You can also use a wide star tip, which will give a cool texture to your meringues, but either way works fine. Hold your piping bag close to a baking sheet covered with a sil pat or parchment paper to keep the meringues from sticking. Simply squeeze the bag to pipe out a dollop of meringue, then release. I make traditional simple circles with a “kiss” on top. You can make them more smooth on top by pulling the piping bag to the bottom before releasing or create other simple shapes, as well.

Because they’ve already “risen” as much as they will with the beating you did earlier, you can pipe the meringues as close to each other as you want because they won’t spread. I can get a full recipe onto a single baking sheet if I’m careful.

Once they’re all piped out, place the baking sheet in your oven and turn it off. Then just walk away knowing this mocha meringues recipe is some of the fastest and easiest baking you’ve ever done. Let them bake in the oven as it loses its heat slowly over the next couple hours. Once the oven and meringues have fully cooled, remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully lift each mocha meringue off the sil pat. Store them in a tightly sealed container for up to two weeks.

Ready to try this mocha meringues recipe? What do you usually make with extra egg whites?

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