Aquafaba meringues

Replacing eggs in pastry making is still a taboo for many people, however there are some ingredients that are slowly becoming more and more used and consequently better known, such as aquafaba, or chickpea cooking water.

In fact, today we will use it to replace egg whites and make classic meringues.

A basic pastry preparation and we will only need two ingredients aquafaba and sugar. 

Using a planetary mixer will make the process easier but electric whisks are also fine, in fact I will use these to show you that it is possible to use them and obtain a nice meringue.

You have to be patient, aquafaba doesn't whip up in 2 minutes.

How to make aquafaba: it is possible to make it at home, but if you always want to have the same result and be sure that it whips well, buy a jar of cooked chickpeas, drain them, keeping the water in the jar. Use this water instead of egg whites.

Method

Preheat the static oven to 90˚. 

Prepare 3 baking trays with baking paper.

Weigh the aquafaba into one bowl and the granulated sugar into another.

With the whisks start whipping at high speed. After a couple of minutes, when it begins to incorporate air, gradually pour in the granulated sugar, continuing to whisk.

The sugar should not be added all at once and all together, but one spoonful at a time as it is whipped.

Then continue whipping at high speed for several minutes until you obtain a shiny white meringue. As you lift the whisk, white peaks should form.

The meringue will be ready when it remains still when you turn the bowl upside down and does not fall.

It will take between 5 and 10 minutes to whip it well.

Transfer the meringue into a pastry bag with a decorative tip of your choice, the one used in this recipe is a closed star no.11. 

I recommend making a mini meringue spike, one in each corner, and placing the baking paper on top to ensure that the baking paper adheres well to the baking tray and prevents it from moving.

Now dress the meringues by making small spikes all of the same size. Make many small meringues until you run out of mixture.

You don't need to space them too far apart as they don't expand much during baking. 

Cook, or rather dry, the meringues in the oven at 90˚ for around 4 hours, with the valve open or by inserting a spoon into the door to let the humidity escape. 

They can be made in a fan oven if the fan is not too powerful, but it is also fine in a static oven as long as the important thing is to put a spoon in the door to let the humidity escape.

They must be very dry and detach from the baking paper. The time varies depending on the size of the meringues.

It is important that the T is low, to avoid cracks and to prevent them from turning yellow.

Turn off the oven, open it and let them cool inside completely.