Best Meringue Poinsettias Recipes

PEPPERMINT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. While beating, add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in the peppermint.
• Fold the top of a pastry bag fitted with a round tip over and down a few inches. Dip a paintbrush in the food coloring. Starting inside the pastry tip, brush a stroke of food coloring from the tip to the top of the bag. Repeat with 3 more evenly spaced strokes. Fill the bag with the meringue; try to spoon it directly into the center so as not to smudge the food coloring (though some smudging is inevitable). Pipe 1-inch-diameter mounds of meringue spaced 1 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake until the meringues are no longer glossy and feel light and dry when picked up, about 1 hour. Open the oven for a few minutes, then turn it off and shut the door. Leave the meringues in the oven until they are completely dry inside, about 2 hours. The meringues can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

POINSETTIA COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line baking sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy using an electric mixer. Add egg and vanilla; mix until well blended. Stir in flour by hand using a sturdy spoon while adding enough red food coloring to make the dough turn a pretty red color.
• Roll the balls in the red decorator sugar and place them on the prepared cookie sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Refrigerate the cookies on their cookie sheets until firm, about 10 minutes.
• When the cookies are firm, make three slices across each cookie to make 6 slices like a pie, cutting only about 2/3 of the way through the cookie balls.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies appear dry. Cool on the cookie sheets, then peel away from the aluminum foil.
• Make the icing for the cookies by mixing the confectioners' sugar and water until it reaches a piping consistency. Add a drop of yellow food coloring. Put icing into a pastry bag or resealable bag and cut a small piece off of the corner. Pipe small dots onto the center of the cookies. Allow icing to dry before storing cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Cookies can be stored for up to two weeks.

POINSETTIAS CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Combine the butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a handheld electric mixer). Mix on low speed until mostly incorporated. Add the vanilla; increase the speed to medium-high and mix until smooth. Adjust the consistency with milk as desired. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature and mix on medium-high until smooth.
• Put 1/3 of the frosting into a medium bowl and the remaining 2/3 into a second bowl. Color the smaller amount of frosting with the green food coloring and stir to combine. Color the larger amount of frosting with 5 to 10 drops of red food coloring - until a dark red color is achieved. Transfer the green buttercream to a disposable piping bag fitted with a #63 leaf piping tip. Transfer the red buttercream to a disposable piping bag fitted with a #366 leaf piping tip.
• Pipe a dollop of red buttercream on the tops of each cupcake and smooth with a small offset spatula to cover the tops.
• Pipe red buttercream on top of each cupcake creating petals in a star shape. Pipe a second star shape pattern on top of the first but offset the points so they are in between the first layer of petals. Pipe the green frosting with the flat side of the piping tip facing towards the cupcake and make leaves in between each of the bottom layer of petals. Pipe a cross shape with the red frosting in the center of the flowers. Sprinkle the centers with silver dragees.