Meringue snowmen

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C.
2. Line a large baking tray with Multix Bake and a 24 hole muffin pan with Multix mini patty pans in red, or a red pattern.
3. In a stand mixer add the egg whites and whisk until very stiff. Add the caster sugar a ¼ of a cup at a time. Whisk until the meringue is smooth and silky and the sugar is fully dissolved. Divide the meringue in 2 and transfer into 2 Multix disposable piping bags. Cut the first 2cm off the end of each bag (you want to pipe the meringue through a hole about 1.5cm across) First pipe your snowman bodies. Holding the bag upright and pipe a high 5 to 6cm plump round meringue in each Multix mini patty. You may need to transfer to the other bag to complete the 24. Then making them as plump and round as you can, pipe 24 heads about 1/3 the size of the bodies on the lined baking tray, allowing a small gap between each one for expansion. Tap any points of meringue down with a damp fingertip.
4. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Leaving the meringues in the oven, turn it off and allow them to stay inside over night to totally dry out. Make sure the oven has been preheated for some time so the residual heat is enough to dry out the meringues.

To decorate

1. Using a fine paint brush and a tiny amount of red food colouring, paint a little smiley mouth 2/3 of the way down on all the heads. Using the medium paint brush and melted dark chocolate, paint eyes on the heads and three buttons on the tummies of each body. Allow the dark chocolate to set. Tie the ribbons into 24 little scarfs. Keep them loose so they will sit on your snowman’s shoulders. Using a sharp knife, flatten the top of each meringue body just a little, so you have a small flat surface. Using the point of wooden skewer, twiddle small holes in the sides of each snowman’s body and head. Very gently insert small lengths of pretzels to make arms and noses. Melt the white chocolate and allow it to cool slightly. Using a medium paint brush apply a small dollop of slightly cooled melted white chocolate to the top of the body. This will be used glue the snowman’s head on. Loosely place one of the red ribbons on top of the body then stick the head on by gently pressing it into the white chocolate. This will also hold the ribbon in place. Repeat with the rest. Allow the chocolate to set fully and your happy snowmen are ready to party.