The four egg yolks in the Meyer lemon pie (see yesterday’s post) left me with four egg whites, and I don’t like egg white omelets.  A quick flip through the cookbooks at the top of my “current reading” stack revealed a recipe for Meringhe al Limone e Mandorle (aka lemon and almond meringues), from Biscotti:  Recipes from Kitchen of the American Academy in Rome.  Doubling the recipe took care of the excess egg whites as well as a tiny bit of the lemon juice surplus.  (See the recipe here.)

Meringue has the reputation of being tricky, prone to failure and delicate to handle.  A stand mixer is half the battle, as properly whipped meringue is less likely to flop.  And the slow, low-temperature baking of these lemon almond meringue cookies is easier on the egg foam than a meringue pie topping’s higher heat requirements (to achieve those golden-brown points).

Thanks to a pastry bag and an oversized star tip (I used a Wilton 1M, but could have gone larger if I had these Ateco jumbo pastry tubes) the rosette cookies look elegant and offer an ethereal yet nutty crunch.  Alone or alongside a scoop of chocolate gelato, the meringues are a low-fat indulgence.  I’m trying not to eat one every time I walk through the kitchen.