Angel Jellies

## Book Reference

Christmas Caramel Murder

Preheat oven to 275°F rack in the center position. ***(That's two hundred and seventy-five degrees F, not a misprint.)***

### Ingredients

* 6 large eggs
* 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup white (granulated) sugar
* 2 Tablespoons (1/8 cup) all-purpose flour (Pack it down when you measure it)
* a little flour in a small bowl for later
* a small jar of seedless raspberry jam (or your favorite jam if you don't like raspberry)
	+ **Hannah's 1st Note:** *Make sure you use jam and not jelly in this recipe. I know the name is Angel Jellies, but that's because "Angel Jams" didn't sound as nice. I haven't tried jelly, but there's more liquid in jelly than in jam. Jam has pieces of fruit in it and although the liquid in jam will melt, those pieces of fruit won't melt. Jelly could melt and leak out of the bottoms of the cookies as they bake, making them soggy.*

### Directions

* Separate 6 large eggs and put the white in one container and the yolks in another.
* Cover the container with the yolks and put it in the refrigerator. You can use it to make yolk-rich scrambled eggs for breakfast in the morning, or a yolk-rich Chocolate Flan with Caramel Whipped Cream for dessert.
* Set the whites on your kitchen counter until they've come up to a room temperature. (This will give them more volume when you whip them.)
* Prepare your cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper (this works best) or brown parcel-wrapping paper if you don't have parchment. Spray the paper with Pam or another non-stick cooking spray and dust it lightly with flour.
	+ **Hannah's 2nd Note:** *You can also use Pam Baking Spray or another brand of baking spray that has flour in it.*
	+ **Hannah's 3rd Note:** *These cookies are a lot easier to make if you use an electric mixer because you must beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and, ultimately, stiff peaks. You can use a copper bowl and a whisk, but it will take some time and muscle.*
* Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt until they are firm enough to hold a soft peak. Test this by shutting off the mixer and dotting the egg whites with the side of a clean rubber spatula. When you pull up the spatula, a soft peak should form.
	+ **Hannah's 4th Note:** *For those of you who haven't made meringues before, soft peaks slump a bit and bend over on themselves. That's what you want at this stage. A bit later on in the recipe, you'll want stiff peaks. Those stand straight up and do not slump or bend over.*
* With the mixer running on MEDIUM HIGH speed, sprinkle the egg white mixture with approximately one third of the sugar. Turn the mixer up to HIGH speed for ten seconds or until stiff peaks form. Then turn OFF the mixer completely.
* Sprinkle in the flour and mix it into the egg white mixture at LOW speed. You don't want to whip any air out of the meringue.
* Take the bowl out of the mixer, give it a gentle stir with your rubber spatula, and place it next to your prepared cookie sheet.
* Use a spoon to drop small mounds of dough of your cookie sheet, no more than 12 dough mounds to a standard-sized sheet. (If you make 4 rows with 3 dough mounds in each row, that should be perfect.)
	+ **Hannah's 5th Note:** *The mound of dough should be no larger than a ping pong ball. (If you've never played table tennis, this is a little smaller than a golf ball. If you've never played golf, make the dough mounds the size of a large walnut in the shell. If you've never seen a large walnut in the shell, you'd better someone or you won't have a clue!)*
* Dip the pad of your impeccably clean finger in the flour. (*I use my pointer finger*.) Make an indentation in the center of your mounds of cookie dough, dipping your finger in the bowl of flour before indenting each mound. Make sure your indentations DO NOT go all the way to the bottom of the dough mounds. (*If the jam leaks out of the oven, it'll go all over and you certainly don't want that*!)
* Use the tip of a small spoon to take a little jam from the jar and deposit it inside the indentations you made. Don't use too much jam. A little will do just fine.
* Drop a little mound of cookie dough over the top of the jam to cover it completely. Then it will be a lovely surprise when everyone bites into your cookies.
* Bake your Angel Jellies at 275°F for approximately 40 minutes or until the meringue part of the cookie is lightly golden and dry to the touch when you tap it lightly with your finger.
* Take the Angel Jellies out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the paper-lined baking sheet by setting it on a cold stovetop burner or on a wire rack.
* When your Angel Jellies are completely cool, peel them off the paper and store them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. (Unfortunately, your refrigerator is NOT a dry place. A cupboard shelf will do just fine as long as it's not near your stove.)

**Yield:** 3 to 4 dozen crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies with a delightful surprise in the center. Warning: Angel Jellies are like potato chips. You can't just eat one!

### Michelle's Note

*My college housemates love these cookies. I've made them with strawberry jam, peach jam, apricot jam, pineapple jam, blueberry jam, and orange marmalade.*

## Conversion Charts

See Baking Conversion Chart for non-USA baking conversions.