In every season of the Great British Baking Show, there is almost always a moment when the contestants attempt and fail to make a meringue. Sometimes the egg whites deflate before they've even made it into the oven, and sometimes the baked confections crack and collapse after they've come out of the oven. Though meringues have a reputation for being difficult to pull off—they can go from lofty to flat in a few seconds, ruining any dessert plans you may have had—they’re really just a whipped foam of egg whites, sugar, and an acid like cream of tartar. With a little know-how, you can make spectacular meringue for cookies that won’t break or weep on you.
The Origins of Meringue
As is often the case for classic dishes with a long history, nobody knows for certain where or when meringues were first made. Thanks to old cookbooks like Hannah Woolley's 1670 bookThe Queen-Like Closet, we know that there were many iterations of meringue-like desserts in England by the 17th century, including “snow,” a dessert of cream, egg whites, and rosewater whipped together. The first known recipe for meringue, however, can be found in François Massialot’s 1691 book Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois (The Court and Country Cook in English). It’s possible that “snow” was the precursor to oeufs à la neige (“snow eggs”) or île flottante (floating island), a similar dessert of poached meringues suspended in a pool of crème anglaise, a French vanilla sauce.
Today, meringues are an essential component of many desserts. Bakers incorporate meringue into batters to make macarons and chiffon cakes, and use it to prepare mousses, buttercreams, and other confections like pavlova. The simplest way to enjoy it, however, may be the meringue cookie: a French meringue that’s piped and baked at a low temperature for several hours until it’s dry and crisp. These cookies can be eaten plain or incorporated into other desserts, such as Eton mess, mini pavlovas, or used to garnish pies, tarts, and ice cream sundaes.
Types of Meringues: Italian, Swiss, and French
There are three types of meringues: Italian, Swiss, and French. The first two methods are a little more hands-on. To make Italian meringue, you pour a hot sugar syrup (usually 240ºF or 115ºC) into whipping egg whites, which you then continue to beat until fluffy and doubled in volume. Though Swiss meringue doesn’t call for a syrup, it does require whisking egg whites and sugar in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water until the foam reaches 140ºF (60ºC). Both these methods cook and coagulate the egg white proteins, resulting in a more stable foam. Of the three methods, French meringue may be the most straightforward, as it doesn’t require any syrup or double boilers. You just whisk egg whites with sugar until you reach your desired stiffness: soft, medium, or stiff peaks.
Tips for Making Foolproof Meringues
Use Room Temperature Eggs
Cold eggs may be easier to separate, but room temperature eggs whip up faster. As former Serious Eats contributor Marissa Sertich Velie noted in her Italian meringue recipe, the best temperature for whipping egg whites is about 70ºF (21ºC). Not only do room temperature egg whites foam faster, but they also help dissolve the sugar faster.
For a More stable Meringue, Whisk Slower for Longer
It may seem counterintuitive to whisk on medium speed when you could make a meringue much faster by beating the egg whites on high speed for less time, but the key to a meringue that won’t deflate is to go slower for longer. As I wrote in my chocolate mousse recipe, the bubbles in egg whites become smaller and more stable the longer we whip them. As Hervé This explains in his book Kitchen Mysteries, the process of whipping helps to unfold egg white proteins and connect them with one another, creating a network that protects the tiny bubbles. Whisking for longer also helps to ensure your sugar is properly incorporated, which reduces the risk of weeping.
This may be surprising, but whipping your eggs slower for longer also helps prevent overbeating. Whisk your egg whites too long, and the proteins will bond too tightly, essentially “cooking” the whites. An overbeaten meringue will lose its sheen and become a lumpy, uneven foam, and fail to rise in the oven when baked.
Add Your Sugar Gradually
It may be tempting to start by whisking your egg whites with the sugar, but it’s imperative that you slowly add the sugar once your egg whites have gained some volume. In his book On Food and Cooking, science writer Harold McGee notes that incorporating sugar too early can delay foaming and reduce the meringue’s “ultimate volume and lightness,” which “comes from sugar’s interference with the unfolding and bonding of the proteins.”
Make Friends With Acid
You can make meringue without cream of tartar (which is tartaric acid in powdered form), lemon juice, or vinegar, but acids help to coagulate the egg whites while also preventing the proteins from tightening too much, which can lead to an overbeaten meringue. I have long made meringues without lemon juice or cream of tartar and they’ve turned out just fine. Here, however, I recommend adding half a teaspoon of cream of tartar to the meringue—just to be on the safe side.
Use a Clean Bowl and Beaters
As Serious Eats editorial director Daniel Gritzer found in his testing, a little yolk won’t make or break your meringue. But you should still start with a clean mixing bowl and beaters, as fat can interfere with the egg white proteins bonding and can ruin its ability to form a stable meringue.
Go Low and Slow
If you’re making meringue cookies and aren’t using meringues to make something else, the key to success is to bake them at a low temperature. Cooking them at a lower temperature (200ºF or 93ºC) for longer helps to evenly dry out the meringues and prevents cracking, which can happen when meringues are baked at too high of a temperature. Once the meringues are done, you’ll want to cool them slowly, too; opening the oven too soon can create a drastic temperature change and cause the meringues to shrink too quickly and crack. My solution? Opening the oven door slightly and keeping it ajar with a wooden spoon.
Preheat oven to 200ºF (93ºC). Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Fit a piping bag with desired piping tip; set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or using a hand mixer and a large bowl, begin whipping egg whites at low speed until whites look wet and frothy, about 1 minute. With the mixer running, add cream of tartar and salt and mix until dissolved, about 10 seconds.
Keeping the mixer at low speed, slowly add 1/4 of the sugar in a steady stream. Increase speed to medium and slowly add remaining sugar. Continue mixing at medium speed until meringue is thick and glossy and holds firm peaks when you lift the whisk, about 10 minutes. (While you could speed the mixer up for a faster meringue, the meringue is more stable when mixed for a longer time at slower speeds, making it less likely to deflate. The exact mixing time will depend on your mixer and other variables, so keep mixing to reach firm peaks even if longer than the estimated 10 minutes.)
Using a flexible spatula, gently scrape meringue into prepared piping bag. Pipe meringue onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake meringues until dry, about 2 hours. When meringues are done, turn oven off, and allow meringues to gradually cool in the oven for 30 minutes. Slowly crack oven door open, using a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly ajar. Allow meringue to cool completely, about another 30 minutes.
Notes
This recipe can be doubled.
Special Equipment
2 rimmed baking sheets, parchment paper, piping bag, piping tip, stand mixer or hand mixer, flexible spatula
Make-Ahead and Storage
Leftover meringue cookies can be stored in an airtight container, ideally with a silica packet; for up to 5 days at room temperature but may soften as they sit.
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