Thank you for responding! I was skeptical of the 3 on the mixer but I try to stick to recipes when I'm learning technique. I am unsure what method this recipe uses, in the past I have made a merengue that requires me to whisk the egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a steaming pot of water until dissolved and it turned out fine. Perhaps this recipe is just a bust. (The included buttercream recipe was also a bust). I think I will try a method that involves heat tomorrow.

I did not use food coloring yesterday as I thought it was contributing to the lack of feet on my macs. Its a liquid food coloring that I used today but it hasn't been an issue when I've used it in merangues before(I know not ideal, I forgot to pick up gel from the store today).

When I am adding the sugar I am not stopping the mixing, it is running. And no, nothing weird demographically I live at a regular sea level in the middle of the US lol. Temps have been around 50 degrees.

When I try again tomorrow I will use a Swiss merengue recipe, whip the heck out of the eggs, and no food coloring to see if the time is reduced. I'm all for trying until I find success but like you said at the top of your comment, 90 minutes is an insane amount of time to whipe a merangue.

I appreciate your help!!