With the recent Instagram trend for layered fruit tarts taking the cake community by storm, the need for a meringue kiss recipe just become a whole lot more important. These delicate kiss-shaped meringues are such a beautiful adornment for cookies, cupcakes, and cakes. Grab the recipe here!

If you’ve never made meringue kisses before, fear not because they are super simple! All you need is two basic ingredients: Egg-whites and sugar.

The ratio is 1 part egg-whites to 2 parts sugar. We used super-fine or caster sugar, as it dissolved more easily, but regular white sugar is perfectly fine. A great way to ensure your sugar fully dissolves is to heat it first. Simply weigh the sugar, spread evenly over a parchment-lined sheet pan and heat in a 300-degree oven for about 5 minutes.

Whip until a stiff-peak consistency

A good first step is to make sure your egg whites are at room temperature. If your eggs are cold, place them into a bowl of warm water for five minutes before using.

Weigh and place your egg-whites into a super-clean mixing bowl (any residual fat will stop them from whipping correctly). Add a pinch of salt and whip until frothy, increase the speed to form nice firm peaks. Slowly add the warmed sugar and continue to whip until thick and glossy. You can add any color you like.

To stripe the meringues, simply turn a piping bag inside out, paint on stripes of food color and then fill with the meringue mixture.

Pipe the meringues onto a parchment-lined sheet tray. It’s useful to pull up on the bag slightly, as it gives a taller, less squat, meringue.

Place into a 200 degree F oven and bake for an hour.

Allow the meringues to cool completely before storing in a zip-lock bag or a plastic container.

We used the meringue kisses to decorate this fun buttercream cake, but they could be used on a variety of desserts, including the new trending fruit tarts as seen on Instagram.