Lemon/Orange Meringue Swirls

Lemon Meringues

(Recipe from Martha Stewart Living)
Active time: 20 min
Total time: 2 hrs
Makes 25
3 large egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
Large pinch of salt
Large pinch of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange OR lemon zest
Gel-paste food coloring, in orange

1. Preheat oven to 200. Combine egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl. Add vanilla bean seeds. Set bowl over pot of simmering water, and stir until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm, about 3 minutes. Add Cream of Tartar.

Egg Whites, Sugar and Vanilla in a simmering pot of water

2. Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and meringue is mostly cooled, about 7 minutes. Beat in zest.

Stiff Meringue

3. Using a small paint brush, paint three vertical stripes of food coloring inside a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip (Ateco #805). Fill bag with meringue and pipe 1 3/4 inch circular shapes (they don't need to be perfect rounds) 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. As you finish piping each shape, apply less pressure to pastry bag, and swirl the tip off in a circular motion.

Vertical Stripes of food coloring in piping bag with Meringue

Piping Meringues

4. Bake meringues until crisp on the outside but the soft inside, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes: When I made these I thought that 1 teaspoon of zest would be too little, so I added more Orange zest. Although the cookies tasted good, they were too Orangey. If I were to make these again I would stick to the 1 teaspoon. I made the lemon version of these cookies using 1 teaspoon and it had a really delicate yet prominent lemon flavor that was really delicious.
Also When painting the stripes in the pastry bag, I found that painting the stripes too close together resulted in only one swirl in the cookie. Painting them farther apart and even on different sides of the pastry bag give you nicer, more distinct swirls.
This Recipe was really easy to follow and the cookies come out really well. Additionally these cookies can be made in all different flavors by using different zests or extracts.
 I Branched out and tried to make rose meringues substituting lemon/orange zest with half a capfull of rose water. The cookies tasted great. The only issue I noticed with using an extract was the meringue seemed to have a more slightly liquidy texture when piping. If I made these again I would use a little less than a half a capfull of rose water.

Rose Meringues

I painted vertical lines farther apart, and on different sides of the pastry bag for these. The swirls look better.