Meringue Shells

Up to 5 days ahead or early on serving day: Preheat oven to 200. Have egg whites at room temp. In small bowl, beat whites until frothy; add cream of tartar. Continue beating at high until whites form soft peaks. Do not scrape sides. Start adding sugar, 2T at a time, beating at high after each addition for about 2 min or until sugar is dissolved. To test, rub meringue between fingers. It takes about 12 min to beat in all the sugar. Add vanilla and continue beating until meringue looks glossy and “moist” and stands in very stiff peaks that do not curl when beaters are removed. Onto greased, large cookie sheet, spoon meringue into 6 mounds, evenly spaced. Using spoon, spread each mound into a 4″ circle, pushing some toward sides to form a nest shape. Bake 3.5 hours. Remove from oven and cool completely. Loosely wrap each with waxed paper at room temp.

Egg White 3 at room temp
Cream of Tartar 0.125 tsp
Sugar 0.75c
Vanilla 0.5 tsp