Valentines Day is just a week away, so I thought for this weeks tutorial I would use this as a theme and combine 4 of my favourite things into one cake… stripes, a chocolate drip, sprinkles and meringues. So for this weeks tutorial I am going to show you how I made this vibrant pink, striped cake with these pretty pink meringue hearts on the top and cascading down the side.
I really loved how the heart meringues came out and they are so easy to make.
For the French meringue mixture I used a ration of 2:1, caster sugar to egg whites. So for 60g of egg whites I used 120g of caster sugar. If you are finding that your mixture is just isn’t thickening once you add your sugar it may be because your egg whites were not whisked enough at the start. Your meringues will also work best when your egg whites are at room temperature. If your eggs are too cold you can pop them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to warm up before separating them.
When piping the hearts apply pressure to your piping bag and once you have a ball of meringue the size you need just stop applying pressure and pull down into a point. Repeat directly next the the first ball, jointing the points together at the bottom to give you that pretty heart shape. For this cake I used 3 different piping tips, a circle end piping tip, the 6B and the 195K. This gave me around 17 hearts, in various sizes. I then picked the best ones to go onto the cake.
Once the hearts of piped baked these at 100°C for 45 minutes. You are looking for a nice crunchy shell with a soft center. By keeping your oven low your meringues will retain their bright colour. Once the meringues were ready I turned the oven off and let them cool inside before removing them.
For the cake itself this was a 6 inch vanilla sponge cake which I covered in 2 shades of pink buttercream. I used the contour comb by Evil Cake Genius to create the fun stripes around the edge. To contrast the pink I made a dark chocolate ganache by mixing 200g of dark chocolate with 125g of heated cream. This was just the right consistency to create the drip on the side.
Now this cake wouldn’t be complete without some matching sprinkles, and the ‘Love you more’ Pixie Pearls by SweetStamp were the perfect colours.
I really love how fun this cakes looks and how you can use any of the techniques for other cakes. Below you will find the full video tutorial, and although I do go through how I made the meringue mixture I have also included a more detailed video on how to make my meringues to give you some more ideas. I really hope you like the cake and all have a lovely Valentines Day! If you haven’t already you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel for more cake related video tutorials.
Here is a slightly more detailed Meringue Tutorial:
Tools I used
I have put a list below showing all the tools that I used throughout this video or if you would like to see all my favourite cake decorating tools just click here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/cakesbylynz
Sweetstamp – ‘Love You More’ Pixie Pearls: https://www.sweetstamp.online (use code ‘CAKESBYLYNZ’ for 10% off)
Metal Scrapper Tool by Evil Cake Genius: https://evilcakegenius.com
Turn Table: http://amzn.to/2CfVJUl
Rolling Pin: http://amzn.to/2lkPtA1
Renshaw Fondant – white: https://amzn.to/38JKK30
6B piping tip: https://amzn.to/2TH8P6w
Open Circle piping tip: https://amzn.to/2KzBgKU
195k piping tip
Piping bags I use: http://amzn.to/2xqeDlM
Raspberry Food Colour: https://amzn.to/2XSvYF2
~ Please note that some of links above may be affiliate links. If you click the link and purchase any item through that link, I will receive a small commission from the website but this does NOT add any additional costs to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog x ~
Meringue Heart Cake Toppers
Ingredients
- 60 g Egg Whites (Around 2 eggs)
- 120 g Caster Sugar
- Flavouring of your choice
- Food Colour Gel
Instructions
- First you will need to separate your egg whites into a bowl. For the meringues we are using a 2:1 ratio of caster sugar to egg whites, so I always weigh my egg whites to enable me to get the correct amount of sugar.
- Using the whisk attachment on a hand mixer or stand mixer, start with a slow to medium speed, mixing your egg whites until they become foamy and a little cloudy.
- At this stage you can turn your mixer up and whisk your egg whites until they form peaks which keep their shape.
- Add the caster sugar slowly, one teaspoon at a time, making sure to keep mixing it as you go.
- Once the sugar has all been added wipe down the side of your bowl with a spatula and keep mixing for a further 3-4 minutes to make sure all of the sugar granules have dissolved. You can feel the mixture between your fingers. You are looking for it to feel completely smooth. (If any granules are left in your mixture you may get hard lumps in your meringues once baked)
- Once the mixture is ready you can add a few drops of flavouring.
- You can now colour your meringue using food gel colours. Once you have your desired colour, place the meringue into a piping bag.
- Add a piece of parchment paper onto a baking tray, securing the corners with a small amount of meringue as a glue.
- Hold your piping bag directly above your parchment paper, applying a small amount of pressure. Start to pipe a small blob and then pull the piping bag down and to the side to give you once side of your heart. Move across and do the other side pulling the end into a point with the previous side. Take a look at the video above to get a better idea of exactly how to pipe them.
- Bake your meringues in a preheated oven at 100 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes for small meringue kisses or around 1 hour for larger meringues. Once baked you want to turn the oven off, but leave them inside the oven to completely cool.
- You can now use your meringues to decorate your cakes.
Notes
Storing your meringues
Once your meringues have cooled, you can place them in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature for around 2 weeks. Meringues don’t like to be put in the fridge as they soak up the moisture and can go sticky, so if your cake needs to be refrigerated, place the meringues on once it comes out of the fridge.Plus why not save this tutorial for later and pin it to Pinterest
