Aunty Doreen in Sri Lanka used to make these kisses every time I visited. I visited her often. Kisses, or macaroons, as my mother-in-law likes to call them, are essentially flavoured meringues. If you don’t like rose, substitute with vanilla, almond, peppermint or choc chips. The opportunities are endless. I feel almost blasphemous making these without A. Doreen.
Prep time – 1/2 an hour.
Cooking time: 1 hour.
Ingredients:
- six room temperature egg whites
- 1.5 cups caster (super fine) sugar.
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1.5 tsp rose-flavoured water
- pink food colouring
- Make sure your beaters and bowl is free of oils and stains. Preheat your oven to 120c (250F) with two wire racks placed evenly in the middle. Put baking paper on two flat baking trays.
- Whisk the egg whites until foamy. On medium, start adding the sugar, three tablespoons at a time until soft peaks form.
- Whisk on high once all the sugar is added then start playing around with the colour until you get a level of pink you’re happy with. Keep whisking until high peaks are created when the whisk is removed from the bowl.
- On low, fold in the vinegar and rose water.
- Using two clean tablespoons, spoon the mixture onto the prepared baking trays, making sure there’s a 2.5cm (1 inch) gap between meringues.
- Place the trays into the oven and close the oven door very slowly to prevent the hot air from escaping.
- Check on them in an hour or 50 minutes if your oven runs hot. Now, you have a choice. You can either take them out; the rush of cold air causes them to contract and get crunchy and cracked in some places. Or, you can turn the oven off and leave them to cool in there for six hours. I take them out because the cracks don’t affect the flavour and I’m impatient.
- Enjoy! Store in an air tight container.
