3 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup sugar
Pink gel food coloring
Leaf green gel food coloring
Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In bowl of electric mixer, place egg whites and whisk until frothy. Add cream of tartar and vanilla and increase speed until thick and glossy. Begin adding sugar, one teaspoon at a time, whisking well after each addition. Continue whisking until meringue is very thick, glossy, and stiff, making sugar is incorporated. Divide between two bowls. Using a toothpick, dip out a tiny amount of pink coloring and whisk into one of bowls of meringue.( A tiny bit goes a long way, add tiny amount of color to begin with.) Fill a large piping bag fitted with a plain tip with pink meringue. Pipe meringue in small circles, layering meringue as you move bag upward and inward. Repeat process, using leaf-green gel coloring and a piping bag fitted with a leaf tip. Pipe half circles to form leaves. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn heat off and leave in oven for another hour. Remove and store meringues in an airtight container until ready to use. When ready to serve arrange roses and leaves on a platter as desired.
Yield: 24 meringue roses and leaves
