Meringues Recipe - Baking with Granny (2024)

FAQs

What must be avoided when making meringue? ›

Don't use plastic bowls—they can retain a film of fat from previously mixed or stored items that can deflate the meringue. Don't make meringues on humid days. Humidity causes meringues to be sticky and chewy. Bake meringues at low temperatures because they tend to brown quickly.

Cornstarch: Cornstarch is an excellent way to foolproof your meringue. Use it to create added fluff and keep your hard-won volume from shrinking. Cream of Tartar: Often added in when making meringues, acidic cream of tartar provides lift and stabilization.

Meringues are not supposed to harden completely in the oven. While low heat will dry them out, meringues do not become hard and crisp until they have had a chance to cool for five or ten minutes.

Back to the proportion and ratio part, if you want your meringue to come out firm and crisp on the outside you need to use 1 part egg whites 2 parts granulated sugar. The other secret to a real good meringue is time, you have to whisk the egg whites and sugar enough time to get a stable meringue.

The difference between the different types of meringue is how the sugar and egg whites are combined. No matter the type, fat is the enemy to a strong meringue. I like to wipe my bowl and whisk down with a bit of vinegar to get rid of any residual fat or grease.

The other reason is that meringue is cooked. I can't really think of a dish made with an uncooked meringue. Italian and Swiss meringues (as used for buttercreams or things like baked Alaska) are cooked before use. French meringues (for things like pavlova, meringue cookies, or soufflé)are baked before eating.

Acid. Whether it be vinegar, lemon juice, cream of tartar, or a combination, an acid will greatly improve the structure of meringue. Acid not only helps meringue whip up and aerate more quickly, it also keeps it stable. Without acid, meringue is more likely to collapse either during or after mixing.

If the meringue has turned slightly silver or pale grey then it is possible this is due to aluminium, though it is very rare for this to happen. If you have an aluminium whisk then it should be oxidised so that it has a hard surface.

It can be made with any sugar. One cup of superfine sugar or packed brown sugar is equal to 1 cup of granulated sugar; 1-3/4 cups powdered sugar equals 1 cup granulated. Superfine sugar may dissolve more readily and produce a smoother glossier meringue, but volume will not be as great.

The meringue is flavoured slightly with lemon zest and some lemon juice is added. The lemon juice does not really add flavour to the meringue, it is mainly used as its acidity helps to stabilise the whisked egg whites in the meringue mixture.

What happens if you put too much cream of tartar in meringue? ›

Keep in mind that more cream of tartar doesn't necessarily mean a better, more stable result. “Too much cream of tartar will impart a metallic, tin-like taste,” Molly warns.

Adding the Sugar Too Quickly

In general, a given weight of egg whites can absorb up to an equivalent weight of sugar, but you can't just dump it in all at once or it will simply knock all the air out of the foam.

Over whip the egg whites and you risk making them too firm and they will risk losing the moisture that they hold. This will affect your meringue's crispness, as well as making it more likely to collapse or weep beads of sugar. As my meringue guru Gary Mehigan advises: “If you over whip the egg whites you cannot fix it.

Slow and steady is the fast and hard rule for any meringue. Start slow when whipping the whites for small and stable bubbles, slowly up the tempo so you don't over beat and then slowly add the sugar. This goes for your oven too. We're not cooking, so much as drying out the meringue.

The speed of whisk, length of time whisking, cleanliness of egg (i.e. no yolk), state of the bowl (e.g. needs to be clean and dry) etc.

Beat a mixture of thickened cornstarch and water into the egg whites to bind and stabilize the liquid in the meringue (and keep it from seeping out).

Meringue rule 1: Don't let any egg yolk wind up in your bowl. This was the first rule I learned in culinary school. Yolks equal fat, and fat makes it pretty much impossible for the proteins in your egg whites to unravel and start forming bubbles.