Lilac Ube Meringue Ghosts

Crisp meringue ghosts, lilac thanks to the Japanese purple sweet potato in Japanese Ube. They come out marbled with a gentle vanilla note and keep for days in a closed jar: perfect for gifting or the Halloween table.

Time: 2 h 15 min · Makes: about 20 ghosts · Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites (about 60 g) at room temperature
• 120 g sugar
• 4 g (2 teaspoons) Japanese Ube
• A few drops of lemon juice
• 20 g melted dark chocolate for the faces

Step by step

1. Preheat the oven to 100 °C and line a tray with paper.
2. Whisk the egg whites with the lemon until foamy; add the sugar in 4 goes and keep whisking to a firm, glossy meringue.
3. Sift the ube over and fold it in with a spatula in just 3 or 4 strokes: that’s what gives the lilac marbling.
4. With a piping bag and 1 cm round nozzle, pipe ghosts about 4 cm tall: squeeze, lift slowly and stop sharply to leave a tip.
5. Bake 80–90 minutes at 100 °C; switch off and leave them in with the door closed for another 30 minutes.
6. Once cool, dot on eyes and a mouth with a toothpick dipped in melted chocolate.

Tips

• Humidity is meringue’s enemy: store them in an airtight jar as soon as they’re cool.
• Don’t whisk the ube in: over-mixing knocks out air and the colour goes flat.

Get the ingredient

This recipe needs just one of our products: Japanese Ube.