F is for Complete Failure

Friends, it wasn't pretty. I could tell by the meringue. I told myself to dump the meringue and try it again. But naturally I didn't listen to myself so I continued. And they were a joke.

My errors were in the meringue. I broke 2 of the 3 tenets for making a successful meringue -

1) egg whites at room temp. NO, too cold.
2) No yolk pieces in the whites
3) "Stretch" the egg whites* before beating them. My new hand mixer doesn't seem to have a low. Position 1 seems to be the same speed as 6. grrrrr.

*Stretching egg whites means to beat them for a minute on low before turning up the speed. The chef who taught the macaroon class paralleled it to pulling a balloon a few time before blowing it up.

Here is the evidence:

Don't be fooled by this pretty looking meringue. I stood there with my hand mixer for 1o minutes at least! It never got light and had the consistency of marshmallow cream.

Ready to go in the oven. They should have spread out so the tops were smooth. The fact that they still have peaks and lumps is a huge red flag.

Baked. Need I say more?

But today, today I found some success. I'll tell you about it. Check back.