Chocolate and cinnamon meringue

I don’t love macarons. I understand the attraction all crisp, soft and chewy with an acceptance and adaptability to different wild and wonderful flavourings. Sure, I like them and you know I’ll eat them by the bucketload but they don’t make my heart sing. I think I may have suffered a macaron overdose back in they day, when those cracked and softened temperamental little bastards were left for the staff or for the bin. I have no desire to start making them, so everyones go-to excess egg white recipe was off the table from the get go. Next in line, pavlova was ruled out unless I wanted to eat a whole pav by myself (hello diabeetus), so meringues it was.

To be honest I never had much love for meringues either. Damn I really seem to be hating on egg white treats right now, but an eternity of chalky featherweight treats that crumble to nothing, so sweet you need some post-dessert hot chips to bring you down. But I figured out the secret: Add dark chocolate, good quality, bitter and roughly chopped, and spice, but not too much. The meringue will be crisp, enveloping chewy insides, with shards of chocolate that melt on the tongue, enlivened by vanilla and cinnamon, a richness that lingers.

Can you tell I’ve changed my mind?

Chocolate and Cinnamon Meringue
Adapted from Gourmet Travellers Cinnamon and Chocolate Suspiros

3 egg whites
120 grams raw caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped seeds only (I used vanilla infused sugar instead)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
120 grams pure icing sugar, sieved
100 grams dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 120C. Whisk eggwhites and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (4-5 minutes), add caster sugar in a thin steady stream, whisking continuously until stiff and glossy.

Glossy egg whites, whipped.

Beat in vanilla seeds and cinnamon then fold in icing sugar, then chocolate. Spoon mixture into mounds on baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake until dry and lightly coloured (2-3 hours). Turn off oven, cool in oven for 1 hour, then transfer to a wire rack. I have no idea how long they will keep, and the one or two that hung around (I have a short attention span) softened in a few days but it is ridiculously humid here.