Basic Meringue (with added cocoa)

I had these leftover egg whites from the ravioli, and I was going to make this in a couple days. But we just got back from a trip and there was nothing sweet left in the house, so I decided to throw this together. After having made ravioli, this was a breeze. Toss egg whites in stand mixer and turn on, making astronomical noise. Beat until firm, then add sugar, turning up mixer so it sounds like a rocket is launching in my kitchen. Jamie's instructions say 7 minutes, but my meringue was glassy and smooth in more like 2. I added my cocoa (I used Ghirardelli -- I don't cook with cheap chocolate) and had a bowl full of chocolatey goodness.

I had a baking sheet lined with wax paper, but forgot the handy trick of putting a dab of meringue underneath so the paper doesn't slide, so my little blobs of meringue ended up becoming one big blog. Which was ok, since I like the gooey middle part more anyway. I baked it for the prescribed hour, and took it out to cool. It promptly sunk into the flatness you see in the photo. I am wondering if this is because I forgot the other classic rule of meringue, which is not to make them on rainy days or in high humidity (it had been pouring all day). I had attempted a Pavlova from Nigella Lawson once, while living in Miami Beach, and the same thing happened: my beautiful fluffy base quickly sunk to a flat chewy disk. There are more recipes with meringue in this book, so I'll keep trying in my quest for a proper meringue that stays fluffy and doesn't sink.

Which isn't to say that it doesn't taste fabulous. Sweet chocolatey gooey nothingness. Mmmmm. I had hoped to get some raspberries and cream to toss this together with, but I don't think it's going to make it past today's trip to the grocery store. This was so easy to make, and all you need to have in the house is eggs and sugar. Jamie gives the proportion of egg white to sugar in case you don't have exactly 6 egg whites sitting around. Fancy looking dessert with very little effort.