Whip the whites of six eggs very firm, mix with them three quarters of a pound of the finest icing sugar. As quickly as possible fill a tablespoon with the mixture, and put it on a strip of paper placed on a baking board; repeat this working rapidly until all the meringues are made, then sift fine sugar over them, and put them without loss of time in the oven, the heat of which must only be sufficient to dry the meringues and give them a delicate brown tint. When the meringues are coloured and feel firm to the touch, take them off the papers, and with great care scoop out from the inside as much as you can without injuring the case. When this is done, again place the meringues, the hollow side uppermost, on fresh strips of paper, and let them remain in the same moderate heat until perfectly crisp. When cold fill one case with whipped cream, place another over it, and if necessary to keep it in position use a very little white of egg. The meringues can if desired be flavoured with vanilla, which must be added before commencing to whip the whites of egg; thirty drops of extract of vanilla will probably be sufficient for this purpose.

The meringues must not be filled with cream until just before serving, as of course the moisture may dissolve them.

Meringues can be successfully made with a solution of gum dragon, and also with Effner's dried whites of egg. To render gum dragon more easy to dissolve it should be soaked for an hour in lemon juice.

A nice inexpensive cream for filling meringues may be made as follows: - Boil two ounces of sugar with a pint of milk and an ounce of Nelson's gelatine previously soaked, strain it, let it get cold, and flavour it with vanilla. When the cream appears likely to set add by degrees the juice of half a lemon, and whisk it until it becomes frothy and thick. Put it aside and use as required.