Meringue is a pain to make! what is wrong with my meringue? How to make a perfect meringue? Is there a recipe for making a perfect meringue?
These are some of the common complaints when making a meringue. Not to jinx myself but I sort of never had any trouble making meringues. First time I tried making a meringue, it turned out absolutely fine. However, meringue kisses were another story!
Anyone who has followed me for sometime knows that I love meringues and make them frequently. I fell in love with them the first time I saw them in a bakery! Little fluffy clouds of sweetness – who hasn’t been tempted by them? And meringues look gorgeous when decorated! and offer so many options for toppings. Some of my favourite toppings are orange curd and mango curd topped with fresh fruits, nuts and cream.
I am sharing two meringue recipes. First one is a straight forward french meringue recipe but the second one has corn starch, baking powder and cream of tartar. Adding these ingredients helps stabilise the eggs and results in an (almost) crack free meringue.
Happy Baking friends!
xoxo
PS: Make sure to read the notes carefully before starting on the recipe
Servings 10 servings
Calories/Serving 273kcal
Ingredients
Make Meringue
- 120 gram egg whites about four small eggs
- 240 gram white caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 tsp cornflour
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make sure to measure the ingredients as you need the exact amount for this recipe.
- It's extremely important that all the utensils that use are completely dry and don't even have a hint of grease. A small amount of water and grease will destroy the meringues. I rub all the bowls, mixer blades, cutlery and piping bags with lime or lemon to remove grease from the pan and then use a dry dish cloth to remove any lemon residue.
- Pre-heat the oven to 175 degree centrigrade
- Spread the sugar in a baking pan and place it in the oven for seven minutes
- Remove sugar from the oven and mix in the corn flour and baking powder
- In parallel, start beating the egg whites using the whisk attachment on an electric mixer. Make sure that there is not even a hin of egg yolk as it will destroy the meringue. Whisk on low speed for 1-2 minutes until the eggs are foamy.
- Add cream of tartar
- Start beating at medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until the stiff peaks form. Stiff peaks are formed when the eggs turn completely white in colour and start to hold shape. Lift a whisk out of the mixture and check if the peak holds shape
- Then start adding sugar one tablespoon at a time to the egg whites. Make sure to bring the mixture back to peaks after each spoonful of sugar
- This should take about 6-7 minutes in total (when using a hand-held electric whisk)
- Meringue is ready when it turns shiny and stiff peaks form
- There are two ways to test if meringue is ready. First lift the whisk out of the mix and turn it upside down. If you see the small peaks hold firm then the meringue is ready. Second way to test is to turn the bowl upside down and if the merignue doesn't move then it's ready.
- If you mix it too much after this point, it can turn liquid again and wouldn't hold it's shape
- Gently fold in the vanilla essence (optional)
- Pour the meringue mix on a parchment paper.
- Mold it in the shape of about 6 inch round cake. Then mold it in the shape of a volcano with a little well on the top for adding fruits – see pictures. Make sure that the parchment paper is wider than the base of the meringue as the meringue will expand during baking.
- If you want to add colour to the meringue, take aside 2-3 tbsp of the meringue and mix in the food colour of your choice. It's much better to use gel food colour for meringues.
- Turn the oven temperature down to 100 degrees centrigrade
- Bake the meringue for little over one hour. At no point, the oven door should be opened as it will produce cracks.
- After turning off the oven, I leave the meringue overnigth in the oven and open the oven door only in the morning. If you want, you can take meringue out after few hours in the oven
- Meringue can be made 2-3 days in advance. Store it in a cool, dry place
Notes
Using slightly older eggs results in a much better meringue than fresh eggs
It is extremely important to use the baking sheet to line the baking tray and not aluminium foil as the foil prevents the meringue from expanding.
Before making the meringue, make sure to clean all the cooking utensils even the whisk with lime or lemon juice as it removes all grease and then use a cloth to dry them.
If using colours in the meringue, use the gel colours rather than the water-based colours. Water-based colours can destabilise the meringue
If you are making it in a hot and humid climate, try putting the meringue mixture (after you have mixed in all the sugar) in the freezer for few minutes to cool it down. This also helps to dry the mixture a bit
Tried this recipe?Mention @Incredible.kitchen or tag #myincrediblekitchen!
Servings 10 servings
Calories/Serving 273kcal
Ingredients
Make Meringue
- 120 gram egg whites about four small eggs
- 240 gram white caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 175 degree centrigrade
- Make sure to measure the ingredients as you need the exact amount for this recipe.
- It's extremely important that all the utensils that use are completely dry and don't even have a hint of grease. A small amount of water and grease will destroy the meringues. I rub all the bowls, mixer blades, cutlery and piping bags with lime or lemon to remove grease from the pan and then use a dry dish cloth to remove any lemon residue.
- Start beating the egg whites using the whisk attachment on an electric mixer. Make sure that there is not even a hin of egg yolk as it will destroy the meringue. Whisk on low speed for 1-2 minutes until the eggs are foamy.
- Start beating at medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until the peaks form. Peaks are formed when the eggs turn completely white in colour and start to hold shape
- Then start adding sugar one tablespoon at a time to the egg whites. Make sure to bring the mixture back to peaks after each spoonful of sugar
- This should take about 6-7 minutes in total (when using a hand-held electric whisk)
- The meringue is ready when the mixture looks shiny and stiff peaks are formed.
- There are two ways to test if the meringue is ready for baking. First is to lift the the whisk out of the whisk and turn it upside down. If you see the little peaks holding shape then the mixture is ready. Second way to test is to turn the bowl upside down and if the meringue doesn't move, then it's ready for baking
- Gently fold in the vanilla essence
- Pour the meringue mix on a parchment paper.
- Mold it in the shape of about 6 inch round cake. Then mold it in the shape of a volcano with a little well on the top for adding fruits – see pictures. Make sure that the parchment paper is wider than the base of the meringue as the meringue will expand during baking.
- If you want to add colour to the meringue, take aside 2-3 tbsp of the meringue and mix in the food colour of your choice. It's much better to use gel food colour for meringues.
- Turn the oven temperature down to 100 degrees centrigrade
- Bake the meringue for little over one hour. At no point, the oven door should be opened as it will produce cracks in the meringue.
- After turning off the oven, I leave the meringue overnigth in the oven and open the oven door only in the morning. If you want, you can take meringue out after few hours in the oven
- Meringue can be made 2-3 days in advance. Store it in a cool, dry place
Notes
Using slightly older eggs results in a much better meringue than fresh eggs
It is extremely important to use the baking sheet to line the baking tray and not aluminium foil as the foil prevents the meringue from expanding.
Before making the meringue, make sure to clean all the cooking utensils even the whisk with lime or lemon juice as it removes all grease and then use a cloth to dry them.
If using colours in the meringue, use the gel colours rather than the water-based colours. Water-based colours can destabilise the meringue
If you are making it in a hot and humid climate, try putting the meringue mixture (after you have mixed in all the sugar) in the freezer for few minutes to cool it down. This also helps to dry the mixture a bit
Tried this recipe?Mention @Incredible.kitchen or tag #myincrediblekitchen!
