Coconut Meringue Ghosts
These Coconut Meringue Ghosts are the perfect Halloween treat. Enjoy them on their own or use them to decorate a showstopping Halloween cake.
Trick or treat?
Making meringue can be a little bit daunting the first few times but I promise you I have mastered the art of making meringue kisses so that you can be confident you’ll be enjoying treat once you’re finished.
There are a few rules you have to follow when making meringue:
- Make sure that all of your equipment is clean and dry – just one drop of grease or dirt can stop you from achieving stiff peaks and leave you with a sloppy mess.
- Eggs don’t come with easy weight measurements. Because you need to have double the amount of sugar to egg whites, weigh your egg whites first then weigh out double the sugar.
- Warm your sugar first to make sure it dissolves into the egg whites leaving you a glossy, smooth meringue.
- Don’t add liquids! These meringues are flavoured with desiccated coconut – whatever you do, do not swap this for coconut cream, or a liquid coconut essence!
Keep these in mind when you’re making you are following the recipe below and you will have perfect meringue ghosts, guaranteed!
The recipe
These adorable meringue ghosts are crisp on the outside and soft and marshmallowy in the middle. The desiccated coconut gives them a hint of the tropical!
They can be enjoyed as they are or used to decorate a Halloween spooktacular cake!
Coconut Meringue Ghosts
These adorable meringue ghosts are crisp on the outside and soft and marshmallowy in the middle. The desiccated coconut gives them a hint of the tropical!
Ingredients
- 300 grams caster sugar see note 1
- 150 grams egg whites roughly 5 medium eggs, see note 1
- 6 tbsp desiccated coconut
- 2 icing bags
- 100 grams icing sugar
- gel food colouring black
Instructions
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Place the caster sugar into an oven dish and place into a hot oven (220C/200C) for roughly 5 minutes until the sugar is hot but not yet melted.
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Take the sugar out of the oven and immediately begin whisking the egg whites in a large bowl.
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Once the egg whites have formed stiff peaks, turn the whisk speed to maximum and begin adding the warm sugar one spoon at a time.
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Make sure that the egg whites are forming stiff peaks again before adding in the next spoon full.
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Once all of the sugar has been added to the mixture, add in the desiccated coconut and whisk on high for another 5 minutes to ensure the egg whites are thick, firm and glossy.
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Fill a piping bag with the meringue and cut a large opening at the bottom of each bag.
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Pipe a small amount of meringue on to a large baking tray and then line the tray with grease proof paper (the little bit of meringue in each corner will help it stick).
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Pipe the meringue kisses by holding the piping bag upright, squeeze gently and lift away as you stop applying pressure.
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Repeat over and over again until the whole baking sheet is covered and all the meringue used up.
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Cook the meringues in the centre of the oven for 30-45 minutes at 100C/80C or until the meringue kisses come off of the baking paper without leaving their bottoms behind.
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Allow to cool completely before decorating.
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Add a splash of water to the icing sugar until a thick, pipable icing has formed.
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Add a little black gel food colouring and mix well.
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Spoon into a piping bag and cut a small hole.
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Pipe two eyes and a mouth on to each of the ghosts.
Recipe Notes
Note 1 - weighing your egg whites and caster sugar
Weigh your egg whites first. It is unlikely you will have exactly 150g but don't worry, simply double the weight and use that much caster sugar. The ratio should always be 1:2 egg white to caster sugar.
Note 2 - storage
These will keep in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks (if you can resist them!)
More Halloween Recipes
You can find the full archive of Halloween recipes here. In the meantime here are some of my favourite treats!
These ghost meringues are so cute and I love the addition of coconut for that tropical vibe. Would be great to add a bit of sweetness to a fruit salad or just on their own with a cuppa:-)
They are really cute and wonderfully simple! Even easier than your terrifying teacakes from before! Love those little faces!
These are absolutely adorable! Perfect for any Halloween party – young and old alike!