Halloween Party Food: Brittle Bones with Bloody Sauce

What ARE those things on the Halloween party tray? They look like stark white bones with a bloody sauce - are they edible?

Of course they are all edible, particularly if you have a sweet tooth. The sweet crispy bones are formed of simple meringue which:, if you have never made it, is easier than you might expect: egg whites, sugar and vanilla, whipped up and baked in silly Halloween shapes. The Bloody Sauce is your favorite red jelly or jam, strained and thinned a bit with spice for zing. That's all there is to it.

But give yourself a break and do NOT attempt to bake meringues on a rainy or humid day. Both you and the confection will end up weeping.

Are these cookies or candies? Without flour or butter, meringues taste like candy, but because they are baked cookbooks generally list them with cookies. In any case, eating the weightless little clouds is essentially the same as eating straight sugar. In fact, meringue sticks (or bones) make nice stirring sticks for mugs of coffee or tea.

Not interested in sweets? Later this week we'll be posting a recipe for very different savory Halloween Bones and a spicy Blood Sauce.

Recipe:   
Brittle Bones with Bloody Sauce

2 egg whites (room temperature)

6 Tbs. sugar (fine raw sugar works well )
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. sugar

Meringues need to bake slowly at a very low temperature. Begin with room temperature eggs (save the yolks for another use) and be certain the mixer bowl and beaters are clean without any traces of oil or butter.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees; line cookie sheet with parchment paper (not waxed paper.)

Beat egg whites very stiff and dry, using electric mixer with whip if it has one. Add, one spoonful at a time, 6 Tbs. sugar. Continue beating until the whites stand up in points.
Add vanilla, then use a rubber spatula to fold in the remaining 2 Tbs. sugar.

Spoon meringue into a pastry bag with plain tip (or paper cone or plastic sandwich bag with one corner snipped off.) Pipe 3" bones directly onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Don't fuss over making all the bones identical; after all, bones come in many shapes. The bones will not rise or spread, so you can pipe them quite close together.

Bake 50 minutes. If you used raw sugar, the bones will be slightly tan - "bone" in fact! Other than that, they should not brown at all. Small cracks are normal. Most importantly, the confections should be dry.

By the way, those fat pointy meringues will be ghosts on our Graveyard Cake. I'll be posting that later this week as more Halloween Party Food. 

Remove meringues from baking sheet while still warm. If some bones stick, gently lift them and peel the paper away from the back. Another method is to dampen the back of the parchment with warm water until the meringue loosens. Cool completely on rack. Try not to sample any broken pieces, because if you're like me, you won't be able to stop. Store  between sheets of waxed paper in a cool, dry place.

Bloody Sauce

1 (10 oz.)  jar seedless raspberry jam (Polander All Fruit is perfect.)>
1/3 c. seedless blackberry jam (Smucker's Simply Fruit is just right.)
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins, please)

Full disclosure: I'd love to confess to being sponsored by any of these companies, but so far I haven't been so lucky.

Warm jams together with butter and Worcestershire sauce in small saucepan over medium heat or in a 2 cup glass measuring cup in the microwave. Heat it only enough to melt the butter; it should not boil. Stir well then strain. If not using immediately, store covered in the refrigerator and let come to room temperature before serving.

When guests taste your Halloween party food, they will probably ask, "What is this?" But you are not required to tell.