Notes
Meringues are easy to make, but many people say that they often fail, getting meringues that become flat and spread sideways during baking. Here are some important tips on how to succeed every time:
- The most important thing is to avoid even traces of fat getting into your egg whites. It is enough to collect the egg whites in a plastic container (poliethylene, polypropylene and some other plastics) to affect the stability of the beaten egg whites. Another mistake is to beat the egg whites in such plastic container. It is virtually impossible to wash such containers that they are completely free of fat. Also, these plastics actually absorb some fat from the food that was placed in them, and then leach it into egg whites. What’s more, various lubricants are used in fabrication of such containers, so even if they were new and not used to store food, they already have traces of lubricants that will ultimately deflate your beaten egg whites. Stick to metal, glass or ceramic containers that contact your egg whites until they are beaten and ready to be formed into meringues. At this point it is OK to use silicon spatulas, scoops, or even plastic piping bag to transfer the egg white foam onto a baking sheet.
I am writing so much about this, because it really is the difference between nice, high merengues and floppy ones.
- Another source of fat is egg yolk. In a fresh egg it is naturally separated from egg white, but if this barrier is damaged the egg yolk fat will leak into egg white. Even if you scoop out any visible egg yolk traces, some fat will diffuse into egg white, and your meringues will fail.
- Another important trick for nicely formed meringues is to add small amount of vinegar towards the end of beating egg whites. This addition changes very slightly the structure of the albumin (egg white protein) making it more sturdy. The vinegar will completely evaporate during baking, leaving absolutely no smell behind. Instead of vinegar, some people suggest using cream of tartar (Potassium hydrogen tartrate). It should work, after all it is another acid, but it will leave some residue behind. Its slightly acidic taste may even be desirable for some meringue goodies. I haven’t tried it, so feel free to experiment on your own. Suggested amount is 1/8 tsp. per egg white.
- Finally I want to address the difference in how eggs are prepared for sale in North America and in Europe. Eggs in North America are washed (per legal regulations). This means they have to be kept in a fridge, as they lack the natural protection on the surface of the shell. As far as I know, in Europe, and that includes Poland, eggs are not washed (also legal regulations). That means that they can be stored at room temperature. I don’t know for how long unwashed eggs can be kept out of the fridge, as I no longer live in Europe. What matters though is that egg whites from unwashed eggs can easily be contaminated with the bacteria on the shell. Therefore I would advise against storing such egg whites for any extended time even in the fridge. In North America this does not seem to be a problem.
Ingredients
| Single | Double | Portion |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 10 | Egg whites1 (about 35 g per extra large egg) |
| 260 g | 520 g | Sugar fine granulated 1/4 cup per egg white |
| ~1.5 tsp | ~1 tbsp | Vinegar |
- Beat egg whites in a metal or glass bowl, first slowly then fast until firm peaks, but make sure to not overbeat them.
- While continuing beating, add all sugar a quarter cup at a time, just waiting for it to be mixed.
- Continue beating for 7- 8 minutes then add vinegar
- Continue beating to total time of 10 minutes.
- Line a baking sheet (or two) with aluminum foil, matte side up.
- Form nicely shaped meringues using a spoon or transfer the beaten egg whites into a piping bag and form meringues by squeezing2. Use a relatively wide tip, to minimize kneading of the foam.
- Bake (it is more like drying) the meringues for 2 hours 15 minutes at 220°F (105°C)3
- Turn off but do not open the oven. Leave the meringues in the oven to continue drying for about 6 more hours4.
Footnotes
- If you kept your egg whites in the fridge, it is advisable to take them out and let them warm up to room temperature before beating. ↩︎
- I prefer using a piping bag, as my sculpting skill are very poor. I use a large zip-lock bag with a cut corner through which I mount a screw-on piping tip (see the picture below). At this point, short contact with plastic does not have negative effect on the egg white foam. ↩︎
- I like my meringues slightly chewy inside. For ones that are crispy throughout, increase the temperature to 225°F and/or extend the time to 2 hours 25 minutes. Experiment with time and temperature as the ovens differ and the time needed depends a bit on the size of meringues. The color of meringues depends primarily on the temperature as it affects the caramelization. The higher the temperature, the more golden meringues you will get. At lower temperature you will get them almost snow white, but do not go lower than 220°F. ↩︎
- For practical reasons I usually leave them in the oven overnight. Once I put them in the oven, I set the baking time as desired. The oven will go off automatically; it would be nice if it wouldn’t start beeping until manually reset, but I am a sound sleeper, so most of the time this does not wake me up. ↩︎
You can bake meringues in different shapes and use them for more elaborate deserts. Two things that come to mind are mini Pavlova, where you prepare small bowls made of meringue, fill them with whipped cream and top them up with fresh fruits (strawberry slices work great). You can also bake two or three flat round meringues about 9 inches in diameter, and use them for a layered cake. These meringues can be baked with addition of roasted and chopped hazelnuts for something resembling Kiyevskiy Tort.