Meringues Recipes

MERINGUES

Steps:

• Separate one egg at a time into a small bowl, letting the white fall into the bowl and discarding the yolk. If there's any trace of yolk in the white, discard the white and start over. If it's yolk-free, transfer to a clean medium mixing bowl. Repeat with the remaining 2 eggs.
• Add cream of tartar to the whites and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar has been added. Continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy. Add vanilla and beat for 30 seconds more.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 200 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place a small amount of the meringue under each corner of the paper to secure it to the pan. Fill a 1-quart sealable plastic bag (or pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip) with the meringue. Seal the bag almost completely, leaving a small opening for air to escape from the top as you squeeze. Snip off one corner of the bag with scissors, making a 3/4-inch-wide opening. Fold the top of the bag over a few times, then gently push the meringue down to the snipped corner. Working with the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe the meringue into 1 1/2-inch-diameter cookies, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart.
• Bake the cookies until dry and crisp throughout, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let the cookies cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

GOOD MERINGUE

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms stiff peaks.

VANILLA MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F; line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat until the mixture is frothy and soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting about 15 seconds between each addition. Once all of the sugar has been added, beat for an additional 5 minutes. The egg whites should be glossy and stiff but not dry.
• Spoon the mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe 2-inch cookies onto the lined baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between each cookie.
• Bake for 45 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove and cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer); beat on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium high; beat in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, then add the extract or zest. Continue beating until the meringue is thick, glossy and holds stiff peaks, about 6 minutes.
• For colored cookies, swirl a few drops of food coloring into the meringue or use a small paintbrush to paint 3 long stripes of food coloring up the inside of a pastry bag. For chocolate chip versions, gently fold the mini chocolate chips into the mixture.
• Drop or pipe the meringue as desired, about 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired. Bake 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let the meringues stand in the oven until dry, about 2 hours. Top with or dip in melted chocolate and sprinkle with nonpareils.

CLASSIC MERINGUE

Steps:

• Whisk the egg whites, sugar and vanilla together in the bowl of a heavy mixer or another metal bowl. Place over a pan of gently simmering water. Whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and the sugar is melted, about 4 minutes.
• Remove the bowl from the pan and beat with a mixer until the meringue is completely cool, white and fluffy, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, leaving it swirled with peaks. Bake until the tips of the meringue are browned, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Gently fold in 1 cup of ground walnuts, if desired. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain -inch tip with the meringue. Pipe the meringue onto the parchment in 1-inch mounds. Bake until dry and crisp, about 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a glass or another round object that is 3 inches in diameter as a guide to draw 6 circles on the parchment paper.
• Turn the paper over. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a i-inch star or plain tube with the meringue. Starting at the inside rim of one of the circles, pipe meringue in a spiral, filling the circle. Form the sides of the shell by piping 2 circles on top of each other around the rim. Repeat with the remaining circles. Bake until dry and crisp, about 1 to 2 hours. Fill with whipped cream and fresh berries.

MERINGUES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
• 2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil. On each, draw 10 4-inch circles.
• 3. Mix the sugars and set aside.
• 4. In a bowl or electric mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt. Continue to beat, adding 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time and beating well after each addition. This will take about 10 minutes.
• 5. Add the vanilla and beat at high speed until stiff and glossy.
• 6. Using a pastry tube fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the meringue in coils starting at the center and continuing to the outside of each circle.
• 7. Bake about 1 hour, until cream colored and firm. Leave the meringues in the turned-off oven for several hours or overnight without opening the oven door.
• 8. When ready to serve, carefully peel away the paper or foil.

ULTIMATE MERINGUE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 110C/ 100C fan/gas ¼.
• Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick liner or parchment paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).
• Tip 4 large egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.
• Now turn the speed up and start to add 115g caster sugar, a dessertspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It's important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later. However, don't over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy.
• Sift one third of the 115g icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don't over-mix. The mixture should now look smooth and billowy.
• Scoop up a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture. Using another dessertspoon, ease it on to the baking sheet to make an oval shape. Or just drop them in rough rounds, if you prefer.
• Bake for 1 ½-1 ¾ hours in a fan oven, 1 ¼ hours in a conventional or gas oven, until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour.
• Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.) Serve two meringues sandwiched together with a generous dollop of softly whipped double cream.

SIMPLE MERINGUE

Steps:

• Combine egg whites, lemon juice, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip, first on low speed, then slowly progressing to high speed, until soft peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes.
• Slowly sprinkle the sugar a little at a time over the egg-white mixture, and whip until glossy peaks are formed, about 3 minutes.
• Sift the cornstarch over the meringue, and fold in. Use meringue immediately.

CRISPY BAKED MERINGUES

Steps:

• Whip the egg whites and salt into peaks.
• Add the vanilla, and continue beating until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
• In a separate bowl, stir the cream of tartar into the regular sugar and whisk into the whites very gradually, a spoonful at a time, until the meringue is stiff and the sugar has dissolved.
• Sift together the icing sugar and cornstarch. Sift over the meringue and gently fold until fully incorporated.
• Pipe or spoon the meringues onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Each meringue should be about the size of a bar of soap.
• Bake at 225ºF/110ºC until cream-coloured and crisp on top when tapped, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
• Remove from the oven. Cool on the trays. Store in an air-tight container.

AUTHENTIC FRENCH MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Butter and flour a baking sheet.
• In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy using an electric mixer. Sprinkle in sugar a little at a time, while continuing to whip at medium speed. When the mixture becomes stiff and shiny like satin, stop mixing, and transfer the mixture to a large pastry bag. Pipe the meringue out onto the prepared baking sheet using a large round tip or star tip.
• Place the meringues in the oven and place a wooden spoon handle in the door to keep it from closing all the way. Bake for 3 hours, or until the meringues are dry, and can easily be removed from the pan. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.