Who would have thought?

Who would have thought? This recipe includes a couple of firsts for me: Neither have I read the magazine in which I found this recipe in before – always ‘thought it was kinda bland – nor have I ever used instant powder for jello, ever – and I could have sworn that I never would!

Preparing an eye catching jello dessert is dead easy, no rocket science, no secret sauce. Why would anyone consider using store bought instant powder for it? Probably laziness. You wouldn’t find it in my shopping basket, so I thought, until I spotted a beautiful photo in said magazine showing a glas bowl filled with cute colorful meringue bites, using instant jello powder. Intrigued, on the spur of the moment, I had to try it and they turned out just like the magazine picture promised.

Tastewise they brought back childhood memories of my favorite candy store, where my friends Steffi, Kerstin and I were lining up after school to drop some pocket money for effervescent candies in all sort of crazy colors, not caring for their rather artificial flavor. That’s just how these meringue bites taste – well, sweet with a hint of artificial flavor.

Of course now I’m thinking whether it’d be feasible to achieve a similar result – color-wise as well as consistency – with natural flavor, like, let’s say raspberry syrup or dried raspberry powder? Blueberry juice should work, too, but what could be a suitable and tasty substitute for green ones? Thoughts?

Preheat your oven to 120°C (250° Fahrenheit). Use three little bowls to mix three teaspoons of instant powder for jelly with 50g of the white sugar, each at a time.
Prepare the differently colored stiff egg white mix one after another: In a larger bowl combine 2 egg whites with 1/2 teaspoon of white wine vinegar, beat with a whisk by hand or use your mixer of choice and gradually add one sugar mix. Finish beating as soon as the egg white is very stiff and creamy. Repeat procedure with the other egg whites.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper, then fill one of the colored stiff egg whites in a piping bag with a larger nozzle and pipe nice little dots (about walnut-size) onto the tray, leaving some space in between. Rinse and pad dry the piping bag before moving on to the next color.
Bake in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes when done with piping. Take out and carefully remove the bites from the parchment paper as soon as they are cooled down completely. Best stored in an airtight container.