Chocolate meringue

This extra-chocolate meringue is gooey from the inside and crunchy from the outside. It’s impossible not to fall in love with it!

1. Mix the sugar with the egg whites; put that mix in a water bath, and cook over a low heat until the sugar dissolves completely (don’t stop stirring!).
2. Remove the mass from the heat, and pour it into a mixer bowl; add the lemon acid, and whip until a hard glossy mass (start at a low speed, constantly increasing it).
3. Break the chocolate into small pieces, and melt it in a water bath or with microwave pulses. Cool the chocolate slightly, and transfer it to a pastry bag.
4. Pour the chocolate chaotically over the whipped meringue. Mix the covered mass with one movement of the spatula, and pour the chocolate once again. Mix again with one movement. (Don’t mix it intensively, as the meringue may settle, and the chocolate pattern will not be so beautiful; the mass will simply turn brown).
5. Place the meringue on the parchment, using a tablespoon or your favorite attachment. Sprinkle the cocoa on top, if you wish.
6. Dry the meringue in the oven at 80-90C (176 to 194F), using the top / bottom mode for about 2 to 3 hours. The exact drying time depends on the size of the meringue.
7. Cool the meringue completely before serving or cake assembling.

• The bowl, spatula and the nozzle have to be clean and fat-free. Even the slightest drop of fat can prevent the whites from whipping. The implements can be wiped with alcohol before use.
• Separate the whites from the yolks very carefully, so that not a single drop of yolk or water gets into the bowl with the whites. You better do it in another plate, and not immediately in the bowl, where the mass will be whipped. Sometimes you can separate three egg whites perfectly, and have problems with the fourth one, if the yolk falls into the bowl. That's when you will have to start all over again.
• Be sure to wash the eggs with the baking soda or the vinegar before use.
• A water bath is a saucepan in which a small amount of water boils at a medium heat. You have to place a bowl with the egg whites on top of it. The bowl shouldn’t touch the boiling water.