Meringue mushrooms with chocolate

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 2 m.-large egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 100 g sugar
• 75 g chocolate (dark chocolate)
• Sugar for drying
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Total time approx. 12 hours 40 minutes

Eye-catcher on the coffee table, great protein utilization, makes about 20 pieces

Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff, gradually adding the sugar. Continue beating until the sugar has dissolved and a glossy mixture has formed. Fill the egg whites into a piping bag fitted with a perforated nozzle. Line a 32 x 39 cm baking sheet with baking paper. Pipe half of the egg whites onto the baking sheet in approximately 20 flat tufts to create mushroom caps. Pipe the remaining egg whites onto the baking sheet in small, tall tufts to create stems, pulling the piping bag up as you go. Flatten the resulting peaks slightly. Bake in a preheated oven at 125°C (100°C fan/convection oven) for approximately 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the meringues cool overnight. Roughly chop the chocolate and melt it over a pan of water. Sprinkle a large plate generously with sugar. Remove the tufts from the baking paper. Spread the chocolate on the underside of the large, flat tufts. Stick a small tuft on each of them to serve as a stem. Let the mushrooms dry upside down on a sugar-dusted plate. Dust the meringue mushrooms with cocoa powder to serve.