Meringues are exceptionally light. They make the perfect little treat after many days of "big" meals and generally all the indulgences that we engage in, as we celebrate with family and friend festively.

This is a relatively easy recipe to make. It involves whipping egg whites and combining them with a sweetener. 

Typically, refined white sugar is used to make this stand alone dessert or dessert topping for a pie, or cake.

I prefer to keep the sweetener I use to a minimum and will be using maple syrup, but you can use honey too.

Here are the tools that you will need:

1. a medium size pot;
2. a smaller mixing bowl that will fit into the top of the pot;
3. a large spoon;
4. a stand mixer or hand mixer;
5. a spatula;
6. a parchment paper lined baking sheet;
7. a selection of measuring cups and spoons;
8. and a blender or large knife to finely chop the walnuts.

The ingredients are as follows: 

1. 5 egg whites;
2. 2/3 cup of maple syrup;
3. 1/2 tsp of cream of tarter;
4. 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon;
5. and a 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts.

Here's what to do:

• Half fill the pot with water and bring it to a gentle bowl on your stove top.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
• Separate the eggs and put the whites in the mixing bowl. Be very careful not to get any of the yolks in the whites or the recipe will not work as well as it can.

• Add maple syrup and  the cream of tarter in the mixing bowl and blend well.

• Place the mixing bowl in the pot of boiling water so that the bottom of the mixing bowl comes in contact with the boiling water. Gently warm the egg white and syrup until the mixture becomes hot.
• Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer or use a hand-held mixer to whip the mixture for 7 minutes. The mixture will become white and fluffy. Whip until stiff peaks form.

• With a spatula, gently fold in the cinnamon by hand so that your egg whites don't fall.

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop big spoonfuls of the mixture onto the sheet. Leaving space between the dollops so that they don't touch.
• Grind or finely chop the walnuts.

• Sprinkle the top of each meringue with the walnut crumble.

• Bake for 1 hour, then check the meringues, and turn the sheet in your oven to ensure that the meringues dry out equally. Bake for another hour.
• Let cool and remove from the baking sheet.

Let's take a closer look...

Light and airy, the perfect way to ring in a new year with Maple Walnut Meringues.

A big thank you goes to:

@richman, the guest judge this week.

@oaldamster, the logo designer.

@vegascomic, the trophy designer.

@smooth, @sirwinchester, and @knozaki for sponsoring the prize purses.

and last but not least, @englishtchrivy for all the work she does to keep this challenge/contest going.

Best to you and yours in 2017. Happy New Year!

I welcome your comments and invite you to follow me on my journey.

~ Rebecca Ryan