snowy

No chance of snow here, but I thought I would evoke it with a little pure and glossy meringue.

Except I forgot that the oven is broken. It only heats to the very hottest temperature (hardly ideal for meringue). And I halved the quantity of egg whites but forgot to halve the rest of the ingredients. Whoops.

Oh, and of course, my cheap $20 dollar electric beaters decided to bite the dust half way through. I've got to hand it to them, they lasted for five years of some pretty intensive baking, so I couldn't really hold it against them.

Never to be deterred, I forged onwards, hoping that double the sugar wouldn't make them too sweet.

I reminded myself that once upon a time there weren't thermostat controlled ovens and people still managed to make things like meringues. And there would have been a lot of hand whisking done in those days too.

So I turned the oven on, heated it up, and then turned it off again. I was fairly concerned that the uncontrolled temperatures and high sugar content would mean they would burn very easily, so I actually left the oven door open for most of the time.

They did end up browning a little too much and their texture is a bit too grainy. But given the adversity they started with, I think they pulled through rather well.

So let's talk up right mixers. Is the prohibitively expensive and highly revered KitchenAid the only way to go. Or can I get away with something else a bit more affordable?

Comments

[Bianca]

Great job on the meringue. I have some similar oven temp issues at the moment so I'm inspired by your bravery tackling meringues.

I went down the cheaper mixer road. A Breville to be exact. I decided against the Kitchen Aid - although it was highly coveted - I got more wattage from the cheaper version. And besides it's quite pretty too, nice round retro styling.

[corrie]

i love my kitchenaid...I came from the hospital after the twins were born to find one all wrapped it...I hope I can give it to one of my girls its such a classic.

oh and it was before we bought our new house so a bit easier to justify

its part of the furniture here .

Corrie:)

[Ali]

I haven't got a KitchenAid, but I've burned out enough hand beaters to justify buying one. Surely.
Think of it as an investment...

[Sheridan]

I used to bake cupcakes from home, a lot of cupcakes, up to 1,000 a day. I have a KitchenAid that never missed a beat. A very good friend would lend me her mixer to help out. It wasn't a KitchenAid, but a very good mixer, around $300-$400 worth and I burned the motor out. Yikes.
I have another friend with a $300 mixer and it doesn't even mix properly in the bottom of the bowl - she borrows mine when she is doing serious baking.
In my opinion? Go the KitchenAid!!

[melissa]

ooh- nice meringues!
they're beautiful.

i just bought my first electric mixer (just a cheapish hand-held one but it works like a dream) and now i am thinking about what egg-white related goods i can bake all the time.