Swiss Meringue

'Cause who doesn't like brightly colored, marshmallow-y icing??

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SWISS MERINGUE
Good for 50 1-oz cupcakes/24 3-oz cupcakes

Ingredients
60g Egg whites (approx 2 egg whites)
120g Sugar
3g Vanilla extract

Procedure
1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl and mix over a pot of simmering water until temperature reaches 145F or higher. --- The goal here is to pasteurize the egg whites so that it's safe to eat without baking/cooking. If you don't have a thermometer, one way of knowing is to feel the mixture. If you don't feel any sugar crystals anymore, you're okay. The mixture should also thicken and be opaque. Keep whisking to prevent the egg whites from cooking.

2. Remove from the heat and beat the warm egg whites until stiff peaks form. You can add food coloring while it's in the medium-almost stiff peaks stage. Gel colors are best for coloring meringues.

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*Swiss Meringue is the easier meringue icing. But for a more stable icing, make Italian Meringue. Here's a good guide to all things meringue.