Chocolate Covered Snow Peaks

National Chocolate Covered Day is Friday so I've made Chocolate Covered Snow Peaks (that did not really turn out like peaks, but oh well). This is part two of two for the day! Recipe taken from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chocolate-covered-snow-peaks-recipe2/index.html

Ingredients:

• 4 large egg whites at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

 Directions
1)Preheat oven to 225 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites on low-medium speed with the whisk attachment until the whites become foamy.







3) Add the cream of tartar and turn speed up to medium, beating until just fluffy.
4) Add the sugar gradually, so it incorporates into the whites slowly without collapsing them.






And then....my mixer broke. And I gave up on mixing as it was taking forever by hand.

5) Once all the sugar has been added, add the vanilla and increase the speed to high, whisking until the meringue is firm and glossy, about 5 to 7 minutes. (at this point, my mixer overheated and refused to work again, so it never got the the point of making peaks before I figured it was good enough to put into coffee cups)

6) Place meringue mixture into a piping bag with a medium-sized nozzle attached. (don't have that...)

7) Pipe 24 bite-sized "kiss"-shaped meringues onto the trays and place in the oven (or put them in a mug to make weird shaped ones!)







8) Bake for 1 hour undisturbed then turn off heat and leave in the oven overnight to really dry out. (I left them for 3 hours in the oven after turning it off)

9) Melt chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave on medium power for 30 seconds.

10) Holding each meringue by the peak dip the bases in chocolate so the bottom half of the meringue is coated. Let any excess chocolate drop off before placing on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
11) Allow to set at room temperature - do not put in the fridge.
12) Once set, store in an airtight container.