Italian Merengue

Hard to rate. I overlooked the reference to which stadium the sugar should reach, and, as nothing continued to happen and I was eager to get on with my cooking, I used the sugar in an apparently semi-dissolved state - once I took it from the stove it slowly began to harden again. That wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't insisted on scaping out even the last bits of sugar as these then formed indissoluble lumps in the merengue. Well, even thad wouldn't have been a problem (I haven't found one yet!) except that at the very end a small lump blocked the piping bag, producing nothing than blots.

I thing I learned, in any case, is that small pieces dry better and produce a nicer texture than those huge, Ottolenghi-style merengues (not that I'd ever dare to imitate them).