Peppermint Meringues with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Happy Christmas! Stripey Peppermint Meringues with a Dark Chocolate Ganache, oh yeah! I made these for the girls that like something fat free, or almost. It would have been fat free excepting the small bit of chocolate ganache filling these pointy hat sandwiches. Oh, they are so yummy! Three egg whites is only enough for about forty of these, and they're small so I'll have to make another batch. I had to use the big picture because they're small.

Want a recipe? Here you go!

Stripey Peppermint Meringues

3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
red paste food coloring
piping bag
3/4 cup heavy cream
6 oz dark chocolate (that's half a bag of chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 250F. Mix the egg whites with the sugar over a bain marie until you reach the ribbon stage. Ribbon stage is when it looks more opaque than translucent and also there is no granular texture, and it's kind of ribbon looking when you sway the whisk. Drop a bit on your finger and test it. Don't stick your finger in there, it's just a little yucky to do that. Remember darlings, I'm still a biologist! Then mix using wire whipping attachment until cooled. Add in peppermint extract. Using a piping bag and a star tip, paint the inside of the bag with red paste food coloring. Pipe out 1 inch size meringues and put into the oven for 1 1/2 hours, then turn off oven and leave it until it's completely cool. You can make the ganache and leave it all until the next day. No, seriously, leave it! It takes forever for it to set and will just drive you mad. Fill another piping bag with ganache and a round tip, pipe a little ganache on the flat side of a meringue and then press a second one onto it. Let them sit a bit to set and munch away!
Oh, yeah, it makes about 40 sandwiched pointy hats, you know, because you need two of them.