Any decent baker needs a go-to meringue recipe. Meringue is the base for everything from cloud-like buttercreams to melt-in-your-mouth cookies. You’ll find it on top of pies and between the layers of cakes. You can even explore the world of desserts Down Under with an irresistible pavlova.
There are many different ways to succeed with homemade meringue and many pitfalls to avoid. Learn all about the ins and outs of this dessert component, and discover our favorite Italian meringue recipe that is as versatile as it is delicious.
The Meringue Trinity
There are three types of meringue. The main differences have to do with when you add the sugar and introduce heat.
French Meringue
The French meringue is uncooked — although it is often incorporated into recipes that are then baked. As the simplest of the three, the French meringue is the lightest and most fragile. If left alone, it will gradually weep and deflate.
To make a French meringue, you begin by beating egg whites then slowly add in powdered sugar and continue to beat until they form stiff peaks.
Desserts made with French meringue include:
- Macarons
- Soufflé
- Baked meringue cookies
Swiss Meringue
Swiss meringues are firmer and denser than the others, making it the go-to for buttercream frostings.
When making a Swiss meringue, you combine both egg whites and sugar at the same time over heat.When the sugar is completely dissolved, the mixture is pulled off the heat and then beaten into stiff peaks.
Desserts made from Swiss meringue:
- Meringue-toppeddesserts
- Pavlova
- Swiss buttercream frosting
Italian Meringue
Italian meringues are the smoothest and most stable of the three. With a consistency between the lighter French and the denser Swiss, this meringue is also the most versatile.
In an Italian meringue, a 240 degreesugar syrup is poured over foamy egg whites that have been whisked prior. The mixture is continuously whisked as the sugar is added until it reachesstiff peaks and cools.
Desserts made with Italian meringue include:
- Meringue-toppeddesserts
- Italian buttercream frosting
- Mousse
- Divinity
- Baked Alaska
- Baked meringue cookies
Give yourself the best chance for homemade meringue success with these simple tips:
Use fresh egg whites. Freshly cracked eggs will create a stronger, more stable foam. Avoid eggs on the verge of spoiling or cartons of liquid egg whites.
Keep tools clean and dry. Fats, water, or dirt may compromise the meringue and prevent it from achieving the fluffy heights you desire. Avoid plastic bowls, which can retain traces of oil.
Separate your eggs carefully. Enough yolk will also prevent the egg white proteins from binding together in the way you need.Yolks are a fat, which kills a good meringue.
Heat your sugar to the right temperature. Undercooked sugar will make an Italian meringue weep. If you’re eyeballing it, it helps to have a glass of cold water nearby. Make sure that the sugar forms a soft ball when dropped into the water. However, using a candy thermometer is a much more reliable way to get consistently good results.
Meringue Mishaps and Ways to Fix Them
Meringues can be finicky, but don’t despair if things go wrong. You can often reclaim the batch.
Problem: Your egg whites refuse to stiffen.
Maybe your mixer isn’t cutting it, or maybe it’s a rainy day — humidity is the enemy of good meringue. For whatever reason, your egg whites refuse to peak up.
Solution: Add just a pinch of cream of tartar or salt. These ingredients help egg whites bind together.
Problem: Your meringue is spongy.
Meringue should be glossy and smooth. If your meringue is spongy rather than silky, you probably haven’t whipped it until it’s cooled.
Solution: Re-whip your meringue. Use your electric mixer to whip the meringue again until it reaches the desired texture.
Problem: Your baked meringue is chewy.
You’ve done everything right, but the texture is all wrong. A baked meringue should have a chewy center and a crisp exterior.
Solution: Leave meringues to cool in the oven. After turning the oven off, you can leave meringue cookies inside to finish drying out. Crack the oven door if you’re worried the heat will be too high.You can also use the oven to re-crisp soggy or stale meringues. Put them in at a low temperature for ten minutes.
The Perfect Italian Meringue
Ready to tackle your own meringue project? Our Italian meringue goes well with a wide range of desserts, but our personal favorite is on French tarts. Or you can even dig right into the bowl — we won’t judge.
Ingredients
1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup water
4 egg whites, reserved (room temp)
Equipment
Candy thermometer ( included in kit)
Instructions
- Slide and adjust the candy thermometer to fit a small saucepan, ensuring the tip isn’t touching the bottom. Add sugar and water and place on stovetop over high heat.
- Meanwhile, whisk egg whites on low speed with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.
- On the stovetop, the sugar and water should be boiling. Be patient and wait until the mixture reaches 245˚ F -250˚ F on the candy thermometer.
- At this point, the egg whites should look like a thick foamy bubble bath. While still mixing, slowly begin to spoon the hot sugar syrup into the bowl 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk on high speed for a full 6-8 minutes until the mixture cools and reaches a consistency of old-fashioned shaving cream.
Soft Meringue
This meringue is glossy and delicious exactly the way it is and can be piped directly onto the tarts (though we recommend practicing on a spare plate first). You can blowtorch or broil the meringue to add toasted flavor and color.
Hard Meringue
Want more of a crisp, hard meringue? Pipe onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 200˚ F for 1 hour or until hardened. Turn off the heat and let cool in the oven for an additional hour. For even baking, be sure your meringues are similar in size.
Now get cooking! Comment below with your own meringue tips and trials. Share your success or ask for advice. Either way, we’re listening.
FAQs
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.
What is the secret to perfect meringue? ›
How to Make Meringue Successfully
- When making meringues, always cook egg whites to avoid salmonella poisoning.
- Don't use packaged egg whites to make meringue. ...
- Use fresh egg whites. ...
- Use eggs at room temperature. ...
- Never let any yolk get into the whites.
- Don't overbeat egg whites.
7 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making Meringue
- Adding Sugar Too Quickly.
- Skipping Cream of Tartar.
- Mixing in a Dirty Bowl.
- Using Cold Eggs.
- Overbeating the Egg Whites.
- Squeezing the Air Out.
- Baking at Too Low a Temperature.
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.
What is the enemy of meringue? ›
Fat is meringue's worst enemy. Get a tiny bit of egg yolk in with the whites and you won't get fluffy whipped peaks, you'll get batter. Always whip meringue in clean bowls without the slightest trace of grease.
What is the most difficult type of meringue? ›
Italian Meringue Recipe
This type of meringue is commonly known as the most challenging of the three to master, but with the right technique you can create delicious desserts topped with this fluffy Italian treat.
Why add vinegar and cornstarch to meringue? ›
The cornflour and vinegar that is added strengthens the egg white and make it more stable and you get the marshmallowy centres from the shorter cooking time.
Why do you put vinegar in meringue? ›
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.
Should you whisk meringue fast or slow? ›
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.
How do you tell if you overmixed meringue? ›
Turn the whisk around and examine the bottom of the meringue that was collected on the whisk. It should have soft but distinct formed waves on the bottom. If the meringue is chunky, the waves are chunky, or there are too many little hard peaks all over the meringue, that means you've over whipped.
Beat until the meringue is very smooth, very glossy, and thick. This should take 3 to 6 minutes. If you're topping a pie, spoon, pipe, or slather the top of the still-warm pie filling with the meringue. Then bake the pie at 400 degrees until golden brown on top, about 6 minutes.
What are the three rules for making a successful meringue? ›
You simply need to follow just a few simple rules and I promise you will have perfectly beaten egg whites in the end:
- room temperature whites are KEY! ...
- beat the whites low and slow to start! ...
- cream of tartar is your meringue “MVP”! ...
- add your granulated sugar slowly too!
Salt is a common ingredient in a lot of meringue recipes, because in terms of flavor salt will both balance and enhance the finished product.
Why can't you use egg yolk in meringue? ›
It's no longer easy for those air bubbles to escape, and the foam is born. In theory, yolk and other fats can interfere with this process by bonding with the proteins (therefore preventing the proteins from bonding with each other), and by stealing spots around those air bubbles.
What happens if you add sugar too early to meringue? ›
If you add the sugar too quickly then the mixture will never acquire the stiff consistency you want. You also need to be careful if you've used extra ingredients to flavour your meringues. Oils (such as those in nuts or zest) and liquids can stop the egg whites from stiffening, so you have to experiment with amounts.
What is the secret to stiff meringue? ›
A small amount of acidic ingredient, such as cream of tartar, acts as a stabilizing agent. A bit of lemon juice or vinegar will also work. Salt decreases egg-white foam stability, so it is not used in hard meringues. Add sugar gradually.
Does cream of tartar help stiffen meringue? ›
Cream of tartar stabilizes the tiny bubbles in the egg whites, by precluding the egg proteins from sticking together. It thus speeds up the egg white whipping process and contributes to a stable, billowy, glossy meringue, perfect for cookies, topping pies, and folding into cake.
What is the difference between Italian meringue and normal meringue? ›
The Italian meringue is the most stable type of meringue so it is sometimes favoured over using a French meringue, it is stable because the melted sugar cooks the egg whites, resulting in a soft, glossy finish. It is most often used for piping on top of pastries and desserts because it holds its shape so well.
How to fix meringue that won't peak? ›
If you're making French meringue and having trouble whipping up those signature glossy peaks, try folding in another whipped egg to give some extra lift. Forming a paste from a tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in ⅓ of a cup of water may also help.
What is the difference between Swiss meringue and French meringue? ›
The recipe for Swiss meringue is slightly different since it consists of egg whites "cooked" by a sugary syrup whipped in a bain-marie. As a result, the Swiss meringue has much less volume than the French meringue but is smoother and silkier and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
There are three main ingredients in a meringue recipe that interact to form the foam structure: egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar or acid. The backbone of the foam structure is made up of proteins, amino acid chains. Egg whites provide the meringue with necessary proteins that form the meringue foam.
What makes meringues chewy in the middle? ›
Chewiness. The chewiness of the meringues is created by cooking the meringues at a slightly higher temperature for a shorter time, thereby keeping some of the moisture inside. They will also go a slightly milky coffee colour.
What does cream of tartar do in meringue? ›
Cream of tartar stabilizes the tiny bubbles in the egg whites, by precluding the egg proteins from sticking together. It thus speeds up the egg white whipping process and contributes to a stable, billowy, glossy meringue, perfect for cookies, topping pies, and folding into cake.
How do I properly beat the egg whites for meringue? ›
In a large clean, grease-free bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, use the whisk attachement to whip the egg whites on low speed until foamy bubbles appear at the top. Add the vanilla bean paste and vinegar (or cream of tartar) and continue whipping until really foamy.
