Instructions

Make the huckleberry sauce:

1. Place the berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat until the juices start to flow. Purée the contents or put them through a food mill on the finest setting. Strain the berry purée through a fine mesh sieve. Your yield should be in the neighborhood of 1/4 cup of liquid.
2. *Note: For the meringues to whip properly, it helps to have the egg whites at room temperature (not cold). Also, make sure your stand mixer bowl and balloon whisk are clean and free of any oil or grease. The oil or grease can prevent the egg whites from whipping properly.

Make the meringues:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the sugar evenly over the parchment. Place the egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whisk attachment. Bake the sugar for about 8 minutes or until the edges begin melting (but not turning brown). As soon as the sugar begins to liquefy at the edges, turn the stand mixer on to its highest speed. The whites should be foamy as you remove the sugar from the oven. With oven mitts, lift the parchment paper with the sugar on it off the pan. Slowly pour the hot sugar from the parchment paper to the egg whites while the mixer is still running. It helps to angle the sugar toward the side of the bowl. If you pour the sugar onto the balloon whisk attachment, it will fling the sugar to all corners of the kitchen (and your hair). Continue to whisk the meringue on high speed until it is cool to the touch (about 10 minutes). It should be shiny, thick, and hold its shape.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to your lowest setting. We’re targeting 140°F - 160°F to keep the meringues from turning beige. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper. If the paper slides around on the baking sheet, anchor it by placing a little dot of meringue on the underside of each corner of the paper so that it sticks to the baking sheet. Spoon or pipe the meringue onto the parchment paper with an inch of space between each meringue (they will expand during baking). Bake the meringues until they are crisp on the outside and hollow sounding underneath when tapped with a wooden spoon. This took about 4 hours for the giant meringues, but may take less time for smaller meringues, so keep an eye on them and test some sacrificial meringues.
3. Remove the meringues from the oven and drizzle, spray, splatter, or brush them lightly with huckleberry sauce. Don’t apply too much or the meringues will become soggy. Return the meringues to the oven. Turn off the heat. Let the meringues dry out for an hour. Remove from oven. The sauced parts of the meringues should be dry to the touch. Keep in an air-tight container or a dry place for up to 4 or 5 days. Makes 6-8 palm-sized meringues or several smaller meringues.