Meringues II
Category Dessert recipes
Servings 1 lb. 8 oz.
Time 1 - 3 hours

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

Meringue is sweetened, whipped egg white. There are three basic types:

French meringue
(or common meringue) is a simple mixture of egg whites and sugar, sometimes with the addition of confectioner's sugar. It is uncooked but may be browned lightly after being applied to a dish, as in lemon meringue pie.
Swiss meringue
is a mixture of egg white and sugar which is beaten over a bain-marie which increases the volume and stabilizes it.
Italian meringue
is prepared by beating hot sugar syrup into beaten egg white.

Soft meringue, which is used on lemon meringue pie and queen of puddings, for example, has less sugar than hard meringue. Soft meringue may contain equal parts of sugar and egg white by weight, whereas hard meringue may contain up to two parts sugar to one part egg white by weight.

Sometimes a small amount of flour is added to meringue in order to give it extra stability. These are sometimes called sponges but are more like meringue than cake. See recipe for Marly sponge below.

Not Baked

French Meringue or Common Meringue

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. (250 g) egg whites
  • 1 lb. (500 g) sugar:
    • 8 oz. (250 g) granulated sugar
    • 8 oz (250 g) caster (superfine) sugar, OR sifted confectioners' sugar (may be omitted for soft meringue)
  • 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar, OR a few drops lemon juice

Preparation

  1. Beating of the egg whites until stiff with the cream of tartar or lemon juice until soft peaks form.
  2. Add the first amount of sugar, little by little, while beating by hand or machine.
  3. Whip until stiff.
  4. Stop beating and fold in the remaining sugar, if used, with a spatula.

Swiss Meringue

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. (250 g) egg whites
  • 1 lb. (500 g) caster (superfine) sugar

Preparation

  1. Put the egg whites and sugar into a stainless steel bowl.
  2. Place the bowl over simmering water and beat with a wire whisk until the mixture is 120°F (50°C).
  3. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue beating until the meringue is completely cool.

Italian Meringue

Italian meringue taet

Ingredients

  • 4 oz. (125 ml) water
  • 8 oz. (250 g) egg whites
  • 1 lb. (500 g) sugar

Preparation

  1. In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to a boil.
  2. Boil the syrup until it reaches 243°F (117°C).
  3. While the syrup is boiling, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
  4. While beating, pour the syrup into the egg whites in a steady stream.
  5. Continue beating until the meringue is completely cool and forms firm peaks.

Baked Meringues

The following meringues are used in a variety of recipes, with cream, pastry cream or butter-cream fillings. See links below for recipes.

Crisp Baked Meringues

  • French meringue OR Swiss meringue, as needed
  1. Using a pastry bag, pipe the meringue into the desired shapes on parchment paper or a silicone mat.
  2. Bake at 200° to 225°F (100°C) until crisp but not browned - 1 to 3 hours depending on the size.
  3. Cool before peeling off the parchment paper.

Almond Meringue

Ingredients

  • 4 oz (120 g) egg whites
  • 4 oz. (120 g) caster sugar
  • 4 oz. (120 g) powdered almonds

Preparation

  1. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
  2. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue beating to firm peaks.
  3. Fold in the powdered almonds carefully, being careful not to deflate the egg whites.
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  5. Draw circles of the desired diameter on the paper using a pair of compasses or a dinner plate.
  6. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue and starting in the centre, pipe a spiral of meringue toward the outer edge to form a flat disc about ½ inch thick.
  7. Bake at 325°F (160°C) until hard and dry ca. 25 minutes.
  8. Allow to cool before peeling off the paper.

Hazelnut Meringue

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. (500 g) egg whites
  • 1 lb. (500 g) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 1 lb. (500 g) confectioners' sugar
  • 1 lb. (500 g) blanched hazelnuts, finely chopped

Preparation

  1. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
  2. Add the caster sugr, little by little, and beat to form stiff peaks.
  3. Mix the confectioners' sugar with the nuts.
  4. Fold into the meringue carefully, trying not to deflate the egg whites.
  5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and with a pencil draw circles of the desired diameter using a plate or cake tin.
  6. Using a pastry bag with a ½-inch plain tube attachment, pipe a spiral, starting at the centre of the circles, working outward toward the edge forming a disc about ½ inch thick.
  7. Bake at 250°F (120°C) until crisp and very lightly browned, 1½ to 2 hours.

Marly Sponge

Meringue stabilized with flour

Ingredients

  • 5 oz. (150 g) powdered almonds
  • 2¼ oz. (70 g) cake flour
  • 8 oz. (250 g) sugar
  • 8 oz (250 g) egg whites
  • 5 oz. (150 g) sugar

Preparation

  1. Mix the almonds, flour and first quantity of sugar with a wire whisk.
  2. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
  3. Add the second quantity of sugar, little by little, and beat to firm peaks.
  4. Fold the almond mixture into the egg whites.
  5. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and draw circles of the required diameter on the paper.
  6. Using a pastry bag, pipe spirals of meringue into the circles.
  7. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 12 to 15 minutes.

Soft Boiled Meringues

Ingredients

For Meringue

  • 5 parts egg white to 4 parts sugar (by weight);
  • Pinch of salt.

(e.g. for 6 persons, 100g egg white and 80g sugar, pinch of salt)

For Boiling:

  • 3 parts water to 2 parts milk

(e.g. for 6 persons, 3/4 l. water to 1/2 l. milk).

Preparation

  1. Beat all meringue ingredients together to soft peaks.
  2. Boil the water with the milk.
  3. Drop the mixture in, in spoonfuls; the measures given above by example should give 18 small meringues.
  4. Simmer for about 4 minutes then scoop out and dry on kitchen paper rolls.
  5. Serve with custard, beaten fresh cream, chocolate sauce, hazelnuts etc. to liking.

See also

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