Meringue Kisses

I've always been confused by the difference between granulated sugar, superfine sugar, ultrafine sugar and powdered sugar. I finally learned the difference. Ordinary table sugar is granulated. Powdered sugar, when pulverized collects moisture, so to prevent this, the manufacturers add about 3 percent of cornstarch, which can lead to problems in certain recipes. For example, a bad idea would be to sweeten your lemonaid with powdered sugar, because with the cornstarch, it would turn into gummy lumps (not including the fact that it would be super sweet). But, you could have used the superfine or ultrafine sugar - they are tinier crystals than granulated sugar and so it disolved quickly in cold drinks (sometimes it's even called bakers sugar) because it blends and melts faster than regular, granulated sugar. So, to clarify, superfine and ultrafine sugar is not a powdered sugar, just smaller granules of sugar. Got it? GOOD! Here is a great recipe using superfine sugar:

Meringue Kisses

3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar12 tablespoons superfine sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small, deep bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar using a hand-held or electric mixer until they hold a shape. Gradually beat in 9 tablespoons of sugar and continue beating until the mixture is smooth and stiff peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Beat in the vanilla. Using a spatula, fold in the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Put 1/2 teaspoon of the meringue mixture under each of the four corners of the parchment paper to keep it from skidding. Drop teaspoonfuls of the meringue mixture onto the paper-covered cookie sheets. If you want to be fancy, put the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe out the kisses. Bake for 60 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to remain in the cooling oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool for 5 minutes, and store in airtight containers, where the meringues will stay crisp almost indefinitely.