Dainty, crisp drops of meringue are dipped in decadent dark chocolate and sprinkled with toasted hazelnuts in this sweet and indulgent treat. Pictured with our Rosy Cheesecake Parfaits.
Chocolate-Hazelnut Kisses
Serves: 35 to 40
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1⁄4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
- 1⁄4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1⁄8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (10-ounce) package dark chocolate–flavored melting wafers*, melted according to package directions
- 1⁄3 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°. Line 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Beat in sugars and salt at high speed until stiff peaks form and meringue thickens and is shiny, approximately 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract until incorporated.
- Transfer meringue mixture to a large piping bag fitted with a very large open-star tip (Sunny Side Up Bakery #8B or Ateco #848). Pipe small dots of meringue mixture at corners on underside of parchment paper to anchor parchment paper to baking sheets. Pipe large (1 3⁄4-inch- wide) drops onto prepared baking sheets, pulling tip up and over to create a curved peak.
- Bake for 60 minutes. Turn oven off and open oven door to let hot air escape. When oven has cooled, shut oven door and let meringues sit in oven overnight or for 6 to 8 hours. (This will help meringues dry out and form a lightly airy, crisp texture.) Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a day before coating in chocolate.
- Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with wax paper.
- Dip bottoms and part way up sides of meringues into melted chocolate, scraping excess chocolate off against bowl. Working quickly, sprinkle chopped hazelnuts onto warm chocolate before it hardens. Place on prepared baking sheets. Let chocolate cool and harden.
- Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust meringues with cocoa powder. Store meringues in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
*We used Ghirardelli.
Kitchen Tip: Dust fingertips with cornstarch and handle meringues carefully by the points to dip into chocolate.
Kitchen Tip: Dust fingertips with cornstarch and handle meringues carefully by the points to dip into chocolate.
