I had a bunch of leftover egg whites from making eggnog and decided to try these meringues. I used a ziplock back and cut the corner off to pipe out the stems and caps. This worked quite well but some of my stems ended up being too short and fat. I found that the mushrooms looked more realistic when I dipped my finger in cocoa and smudged it on after baking the mushrooms rather than sprinkling it on beforehand. Overall, these were pretty easy to make but quite time consuming. I live in Florida so we really don't have any non-humid days even in December. These set up pretty well considering. A few were still kind of chewy in the center but they were crispy on the outside. A tasty sugary treat that looks really impressive! Edited: I am changing my 4 star rating to a 5 because of how much every liked these at our party tonight. Every mushroom got eaten and no one could believe I made them.

Reviewed On: Dec. 23, 2007

I just wanted to add a few comments since some of you have had trouble with the egg yolks cooking. The milk should just barely come to a boil, not a full rolling boil. Make sure you pour the milk into the yolk/sugar mixture and not vice versa. Also, it has to be done very slowly. Start off pouring in about half a cup and whisking as you do it. Then add a little more milk, increasing the amount each time until about half the milk is mixed in. By that point, you can pretty much just pour the rest in and whisk. I've never had my eggs get cooked by the milk and this is always how I do it. Hope that helps! And remember to add rum TO TASTE. My family are drinkers so the amount called for in the recipe is the amount we like. You might want to start off with less and add more later after the flavors have time to blend.

Reviewed On: Dec. 23, 2007

I made these for Thanksgiving dinner and everyone loved them. My father-in-law even said they were "every bit as good as something you'd get in a restaurant." I loved that I could make them ahead of time and keep them warm in the crock while I cooked everything else. I didn't have quite as much cream cheese or sour cream called for but they were still super rich and yummy. One extra thing I did was save the broth I cooked the potatoes in and used it to cook my green beans in. It gave them really good flavor!

Reviewed On: Nov. 23, 2007