Bizet made from proteins and sugar. How to make meringue at home

Meringue recipes look simple: you need to beat egg whites with powdered sugar and sometimes lemon juice. But to make a truly airy dessert, you need to do everything right.

  1. The eggs for the meringue should not be the freshest, but about a week old. The whites of such eggs whip better.
  2. Separate the whites from the yolks. If even a little yolk gets into the protein mass, it simply won’t beat.
  3. You need to separate the whites from the yolks immediately after you remove the eggs from the refrigerator. But before whipping, the whites should stand at room temperature for half an hour. This will make the meringue base more airy.
  4. Beat the egg whites in a clean, dry container. The mixer attachments should be the same. Even a drop of water or fat will prevent you from whipping the egg whites into a foam. To be on the safe side, you can first wipe the dishes with lemon juice and then with a paper towel.
  5. Use powdered sugar instead of sugar. If you don’t have it, regular sugar can be ground in a coffee grinder. The protein mass whips better with powder. In addition, grains of sugar may remain in the meringue, which means the dessert will not be as tender.
  6. Powdered sugar should be added after you beat the whites into a foam, and not before. It needs to be added in portions, about a teaspoon at a time, while continuing to beat the egg mass.
  7. Lemon juice is added at the end so that the mass does not lose volume. Based on the calculation of ½ teaspoon of juice per 1 egg white. But if you have a fairly powerful mixer that has already whipped the whites into a stable foam, you don’t need to add juice. In any case, it will not harm the finished dessert in any way.

How to cook meringue in the oven

This is a classic method that makes the meringue airy and beautiful.

Ingredients

  • 3 egg whites;
  • 180 g powdered sugar.

What else can you add to meringue?

The taste and appearance of classic meringue will help you diversify:

  • vanillin;
  • cinnamon;
  • food extracts or flavors (vanilla, almond, mint, fruit, etc.);
  • food coloring (gel coloring will make the meringue more shiny, and powder coloring will make it matte);
  • crushed;
  • cocoa;
  • coconut flakes.

They are added to the protein mass at the end of cooking.

But be careful. Oils (such as in nuts) and liquids can interfere with foam formation. Therefore, it is better to add just a little bit than to overdo it and ruin the meringue.

If you want to add food flavorings, never use ones that contain alcohol. It will also prevent the squirrels from rising.

Preparation

Separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites with a mixer at low speed for about 30 seconds. When the whites just begin to foam, increase the speed to medium and beat until thick white foam forms.

Then gradually add powdered sugar. Turn off the mixer and stir the meringue base with a spoon, collecting any protein from the sides that has splashed during the beating process.

After this, beat for a few more minutes at high speed. You should get a thick foam of uniform consistency. You can, oddly enough, check the readiness of the meringue base by lifting the container with it upside down: the protein mass should remain in place.

Place the finished base in a cooking bag. You can get by with a regular spoon, but it won’t be as pretty.

Preheat oven to 100°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form the meringue onto it.

Place the baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack for 1-1.5 hours. Cooking time depends on the size of the meringue: the smaller they are, the faster they will be ready. For meringues that are too large, it will take about 2 hours.

Do not open the oven during cooking. Due to temperature changes, the meringue may crack. The finished meringue should easily separate from the parchment.

After cooking, turn off the oven, open the door slightly and leave the meringue inside until completely cooled for several hours.

How to cook meringue in a slow cooker

Meringue from a slow cooker is no different from meringue from the oven. This cooking method is suitable, for example, if it is not possible to use an oven.


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The proportions of ingredients and the method of preparing the meringue base also do not differ from the classic recipe. But keep in mind that you will have to prepare the meringue in batches or reduce the amount of ingredients by 2-3 times.

Preparation

How to cook meringue in the microwave

This meringue will not be as airy as a dessert from the oven or slow cooker. In the microwave, the meringue warms up from the inside, so it settles quickly after cooking.

The advantage of this method is that you will need very little time. The meringue will also be crispier.


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The number of ingredients and the method of preparing the meringue base differ from the classic recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 egg white;
  • 150 g powdered sugar.

Preparation

Separate the white from the yolk. Mix egg whites and powdered sugar. You can do this with a mixer, or you can use a whisk or a regular spoon. You will get a thick dough that can be kneaded by hand.

Divide it into several small parts and roll them into balls. Place the balls on a plate lined with parchment or paper towel, spaced fairly far apart.

Cook the meringue on high power for 30 seconds. During cooking, the dough will spread, so the meringue will turn out flat.

How and how long to store meringues

Meringue does not tolerate moisture well, so it will become soggy in the refrigerator. It should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

How to make meringue at home? What it is? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. Meringue is made from proteins that are beaten with sugar until an airy dense mass is obtained. It is laid out in a cone shape and baked until it is slightly chewy, tender in the center and has a firm surface.

Meringue

Meringue is a meringue that can be crumbly and brittle, melt in the mouth and tender, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. It is no coincidence that the French called this dessert “kiss”, emphasizing its sweetness and elegance. Meringue contains a small amount of ingredients, so many people think that it is easy to make. However, meringue is a capricious dessert that sometimes behaves unpredictably.

So how to make meringues at home? Knowing some secrets, you will get delicious and beautiful airy cakes and other proteins, whipped with sugar and baked in the oven.

Cooking methods

Few people know how to make meringue at home. This dessert can be prepared in three ways: Swiss, French and Italian. The French create the protein mass this way: beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt, gradually adding powdered sugar until the mixture holds its shape perfectly. Meringues made from it are light and tender. But they can only have a simple shape, since ornate and graceful roses will blur and lose their unusual appearance.

Instead of sugar, Italians add thick and hot sugar syrup to the protein mass. They pour it in in a thin stream, not stopping whipping for a second. This soft and tasty cream is used to spread cakes, fill tubes and eclairs. This cream can be easily mixed with oil to create new flavors. But French meringue, when combined with fats, immediately loses its shape.

According to the Swiss recipe, the most masterly meringue is prepared, as it is made in a water bath. At the same time, the mass in volume becomes several times larger. The thick and elastic mixture produces creamy ornate patterns on cakes and fancy cookies that look very impressive and do not blur.

Subtleties of creation

Now we’ll tell you how to properly prepare meringue at home. Dishes and kitchen tools that will be used to beat egg whites must be grease-free and perfectly clean. After all, fat does not allow the meringue to retain its shape and worsens the properties of the protein dough. That is why add lemon juice to boiling water and pour it over the dishes before cooking.

To create meringues, use eggs that are a week old, as the whites dry out while the eggs are stored and are easier to whip. Also, warm proteins, the temperature of which is 25 ° C, are more suitable for meringue. They will provide an airy mixture with a strong texture, due to which the products will rise perfectly in the oven, bake well and keep their shape.

Try to use powdered sugar rather than sugar, as the finer the grains, the better the protein mass is whipped. Also, the whites must first be beaten at low speed so that the mass is saturated with oxygen. When bubbles and foam appear, the speed can be increased to maximum.

You need to add sugar 1 tsp. at regular intervals. If you add it all at once, the meringues will settle after baking. If you want to get a crispy meringue, then beat it until it reaches sharp peaks - when the mass stretches behind the whisk, forming beak-like angles. If the white cream on the whisk forms round peaks that fall away imperceptibly, then you have soft peaks, ideal for creating delicate biscuits and cakes.

If the recipe requires adding starch or flour to the protein mass, sift them so that they are saturated with air and the dough does not lose its airiness. It is better to bake meringue at a temperature of 80-110 ° C for one to two hours on a mold covered with confectionery paper. That is why the French jokingly call meringues “abandoned cookies.” Just try not to forget about your dessert so as not to dry it out.

Ready-made cakes are always crispy and do not have a dark crust. If you like softer and more tender meringues, bake them until light yellow in color at 150 ° C. How to quickly make meringue at home? The meringue can be baked for a couple of minutes at a temperature of 200 °C, and then reduced to 100 °C and baked for another 30 minutes.

While the meringues are baking, do not open the oven, otherwise they will turn into cakes. It is better to check the readiness of the product after it has cooled, since the inside of a warm cake may seem raw. The meringue cannot be stored in the refrigerator, as it will become damp.

Varieties

Everyone wants to know how to make meringue at home. Based on it, chefs create many amazing confectionery products with the addition of marmalade, chocolate, jelly, fruits, coffee, berries, whipped cream, curd cheeses, spices and nuts. Meringue is served with marshmallows, ice cream, butter, vanilla or butter cream, and drizzled with chocolate glaze. It is used to make cakes, petit fours (small pastries) and sweet sandwiches.

Tricks from Delia

Don't know how to make delicious meringue at home? Heat the oven to 150°C, place the baking sheet with meringue in it and turn it off. The meringue will be ready when the oven has cooled completely.

You can put the meringue in the oven in the evening. Then you will get a great dessert for your morning breakfast. These are the most important tricks of the snow-white meringue recipe from the famous chef Delia.

Basic recipe

If you don’t know how to make meringue at home, be sure to check out this recipe. To create a dessert you need to have:

  • three proteins;
  • powdered sugar or sugar (160-175 g);
  • a pinch of citric acid.

Separate the whites of fresh eggs into a small bowl and then transfer them to a mixing bowl. As a result, an unsuccessfully broken yolk will not spoil the whites. The eggs must be cold. Prepare a mixer, pour a little sugar into a bowl with the whites. While beating the whites, gradually add sugar one tablespoon at a time. l.

First, beat on low speed for two minutes. If you are using more egg whites, increase the beating time. The mass will gradually thicken. Add citric acid to it during the process. This way you will “whiten” the meringue.

Continue beating for about a minute on medium speed. Then switch the whisk to high speed and beat until stiff peaks form. Now spoon the whipped mixture onto a baking sheet covered with pastry paper. Bake the meringue over low heat.

To do this, preheat the oven to 150 °C, place a baking sheet in it, reduce the temperature to 140 °C, dry the meringue a little and turn off the oven after 15 minutes. The finished treat should cool in the oven.

You can also bake meringues for an hour and a half at a temperature of 120 °C. Place the dessert on a beautiful plate and serve.

Meringue with steamed almonds

Anyone who wants to know how to make meringue at home should read this recipe carefully. To create a dessert you need to have:

  • a couple of proteins;
  • 110 g sugar;
  • 35 g almonds;
  • 2/3 packets of vanilla sugar.

Pour hot water into a wide bowl and place a bowl in it to beat the whites. The bowl should not touch the water! Only steam will heat your mixture. Place the whites in a bowl and beat them with a mixer at high speed.

When they thicken, start adding vanilla sugar and granulated sugar. Beat until the whites are stiff and glossy (about 10 minutes).

Now remove the bowl from the water bath. Finish beating, add crushed almonds and mix gently. Next, place the mixture into the cornet. Hold it vertically and squeeze out various shapes onto a baking sheet covered with parchment: snails, snouts, hearts, zigzag stripes.

Now place the baking sheet in the oven, preheated to 100°C. You need to bake for about an hour.

Oil cream

Many people ask: “How to make meringue in the oven at home?” Now we will tell you how to prepare buttercream for meringue in a water bath. You need to have these ingredients:

  • one egg;
  • 100 g butter;
  • two tbsp. l. Sahara;
  • two tsp. alcohol for flavoring.

First, pour hot water (about 40 °C) into the container. Place another bowl on top and crack an egg into it. Beat it with sugar into a thick meringue.

In another bowl, start beating the soft butter. During the process, add one tbsp. l. egg mixture. Finally, pour in the alcohol. Next, place the whipped mixture in the refrigerator. Spread the cooled and prepared meringues with cream on the flat side and connect in pairs.

Meringue with sesame and chocolate

So, we have almost completely answered the question of how to make meringue cake at home. Let's find out how to make this delicacy with sesame seeds and chocolate. You need to have:

  • 100 g sugar;
  • a couple of proteins;
  • 50 g dark chocolate;
  • 40 g sesame seeds;
  • 2/3 tsp. lemon juice.

So, fry the sesame seeds until golden brown. Refrigerate until you prepare the meringue. Grate the chocolate on a coarse grater. Place the whites in a bowl. Beat them at high speed and, as soon as they acquire a thick consistency, add lemon juice.

Add sugar while continuing to beat. The protein mass should become very thick. Finish beating. Add sesame seeds and stir in gently. Now add the chocolate and stir gently.

Form the meringue with a cornet or spoon on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place it in the oven preheated to 150°C. Bake for 25 minutes. It is best to cool on a kitchen rack.

Chocolate meringue cake

How to make meringue cake at home? We present to you an amazing recipe. For it you need to have:

  • four egg whites;
  • 150 g powdered sugar;
  • four egg yolks;
  • 200 ml milk;
  • 100 g dark chocolate;
  • 1 ml lemon juice;
  • 50 g walnuts;
  • 200 g sugar;
  • 200 g cow butter;
  • 40 ml rum.

How to cook?

All housewives love delicious recipes. You already know how to make meringue at home. So, let's prepare an amazing cake. First, beat the egg whites with a couple of drops of lemon juice until thick foam. Now add the powdered sugar little by little, continuing to beat.

As a result, you should get a smooth, thick, white mass. Add crushed nuts to it and mix gently. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spoon the meringue onto it by the teaspoon. Place in a preheated oven at 100°C for two hours.

Now start preparing the cream. To do this, thoroughly mash the yolks with sugar and milk. Heat the resulting mass over low heat, stirring. When it becomes thick, remove it from the heat.

Next, beat the soft cow butter. Pour the cooled yolk mixture into it and beat it. Now break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a water bath. Mix with cream, add rum and beat. Now put this mixture in the refrigerator for half an hour. From the cream and the finished meringue, assemble a triangular shape and place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Bon appetit!

You can make meringue correctly and then cook delicious and crispy meringue in the oven with the help of our recommendations and recipes that you will find below. When you hear the word “meringue”, your mouth starts to water; tender and light meringues will please everyone’s taste.

When buying such a dessert on the shelves of a grocery store, it is impossible to be sure of the composition and quality of this product, so why not make real meringue at home with your own hands? It won't be difficult at all if you follow the recipe. You should separate the whites from the yolks very carefully. The container for whipping egg whites must be completely dry and free of residual fat.

Step-by-step recipe with photos. Preparing meringue and baking meringue in the oven:

THE BEST RECIPES FOR PREPARING THIS DELICITY AT HOME IN DIFFERENT WAYS (MERINGUE CAKE, MERINGUE CREAM, FRENCH STYLE) .

A classic recipe for making meringue at home.

Take 4 egg whites and 2 cups of sugar. When whipping the whites, you need to add sugar in small portions until you get a smooth, stiff consistency. Place everything in small parts on a baking sheet and bake for 45-55 minutes (optimal temperature - 110 degrees). Remove only the cooled product from the oven.

For guests, you can prepare chocolate-colored meringue, with a crispy crust and delicate viscous content. How to make meringue with a similar filling at home?

Preheat the oven. The required temperature is 100 degrees, if the oven has a fan, set it to 110 degrees. Place 2 baking sheets covered with foil or parchment.

For 16 desserts, take 4 eggs, take them out of the refrigerator in advance to warm up a little. Remove the yolks, pour the whites into a clean container, beat with a mixer (not too quickly) until a fluffy cloud is obtained. Add speed to the mixer and add sugar with a spoon (115 grams prepared) this way: add a spoon, beat for 4 seconds, add again. Do not overdo it; when you get a thick mass, stop the process.

Sift through the powdered sugar (also 115 grams) and add 30% to the mixture, stir with a spoon, then add the rest in parts. Do not stir for long.

Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet. It is better to take 2 dessert spoons and use the other to correct the shape of the desserts, making them oval. An oven with a fan will bake the meringue for about 100 minutes, without it - 75 minutes.

The finished dessert gives off a hollow sound when you knock on it, and comes off the foil without any problems. Everything cools down in the oven. 1 serving contains 15 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of protein, no fat. The energy value is 60 kilocalories.

If desired, pour chocolate glaze over the meringues (mix 4 tablespoons of cocoa and sour cream, 6 tablespoons of sugar, 30 grams of butter). Another option is to add ground ginger to the mixture.

If some of the meringues are broken, use them as a filling for pancakes or mix the slices into ice cream. Coffee, mulled wine and fondue go well with meringue.

Now you know how to make crispy and delicious meringues at home with your own hands using simple recipes. Absolutely anyone can make real meringue, and the simple recipe allows you to prepare crispy sweets at home using ingredients that can be purchased at any supermarket.

♦ VIDEO. STEP-BY-STEP RECIPES FOR BEGINNERS:

Do you also have a lot of egg whites left after baking the beans? And do you think where to adapt them? Now I will tell you what can be prepared from egg whites. I used to make chiffon sponge cake and omelette, and this year I mastered another great dessert recipe!

Light, airy, like a cloud! Tiny, light, like the most exquisite dessert. Sweet, tender, like a kiss... Did you guess it? Right! This is all about him, an exquisite French dessert - about meringue cake! Do you know why meringue? But because “baiser” translated from French means “kiss”!

A little more than a century ago, meringue was also called “Spanish Wind”. Isn’t it beautiful?.. I immediately imagine the south-west, the south wind, which is poetically called “marshmallow”, and marshmallow is almost like meringue, its “brother” is just as gentle, beautiful and airy...

Meringues are also called meringues. More precisely, meringue is a raw protein mass that is obtained by beating egg whites with sugar. And meringue is an already dried mass - actually, cakes. There are several recipes for meringue: French, Italian and Swiss. They differ in the method of preparation and their qualities. Now we will make the simplest option - French meringue. It makes those wonderful cakes. For the Italian version, it is not sugar that is added to the whites, but sugar syrup - this makes an excellent protein cream for straws! And Swiss is prepared in a steam bath, and it holds the most complex shapes best.

Today I will tell and show you how to make meringue at home - French meringue. It’s not difficult, you thought :) I thought so too, but it turns out it’s not difficult at all. You just need to know the important nuances of how to bake meringue so that it turns out - and everything will be a success!

Previously, I didn’t know how to cook meringue, and we sometimes bought a delicious dessert in the store: these miniature “turret” things with curly tops, so light that even 100 grams required a lot of them. Remember, we also decorated the cake with them. Then I tried to bake Kiev cake, the layers of which, as you know, consist of meringue. But what I ended up with was not tiny white clouds, but golden-brown sweet toffee! We ate it, of course, because it was delicious. But the dream of real homemade meringue was waiting in the wings!

I studied the information and realized that the toffee turned out because the temperature in the oven was too high. After all, for baking, or rather drying, meringue requires a temperature no higher than 110C. Otherwise, the sugar included in the meringue caramelizes, and the same melted semi-caramel comes out. If you have an electric oven, it is easier to set the exact temperature. Set the desired mode - and you're done. But you can bake meringues in a gas oven, the main thing is to set the temperature so that it doesn’t jump back and forth, and you don’t have to open the oven every now and then, look in and adjust it higher or lower. The easiest way is to turn on the oven in advance, place a special thermometer in it, close the door and, while you are whipping the egg whites for the meringue, the oven will have time to warm up. If you see that the temperature is higher than necessary, there is time to adjust it a little: lower it, close the oven again and wait until the desired mode is established.

So, a couple of years passed after the first attempt, and a reader of the site, Sveta, asked to make a Snickers cake. And there's meringue! I thought about it and decided to try again. Before cooking, I read half a dozen recipes, noting important know-how in each. And - hurray! - this time it turned out to be meringue!!! In the cake recipe, I already told the secrets of meringue - there it is baked in the form of one large cake. But these nuances also apply to small portioned cakes, which I wanted to bake with a separate recipe. Let's start? We need a fairly powerful mixer, a clock, parchment, preferably a bag with a beautiful attachment, although you can use a spoon, and of course, an oven. In terms of time - 10 minutes to beat the egg whites, and then you rest for 2 hours while the oven dries the meringue. That's how simple it is! And it turns out wow, so many delicious meringues! From 3 egg whites - almost fifty cakes!

Ingredients:

For 45-50 meringues, depending on size:

  • Egg whites - 3 pcs.;
  • Sugar - 150-180 g;
  • Citric acid - a pinch (6-8 grains);
  • Salt - a pinch (1/8 teaspoon).

We take the whites from large, very fresh eggs.

Proportions of proteins and sugar for meringue
For 150 g of sugar, I took proteins with a total weight of about 100 g. That is, the proportion of proteins and sugar is approximately 1:1.5 - for each protein there is approximately 50-60 g of sugar. It is better to take fine crystalline sugar, or powdered sugar. Although regular granulated sugar is also suitable. Simply, the smaller the sugar crystals, the faster they will dissolve, which will reduce the whipping time.

What kind of eggs are needed for meringue?

The eggs must be fresh for the meringue to beat well. We check this way: carefully break the egg into a bowl or plate and look. If the white spreads, the egg has been lying for a long time; if it lies around the yolk like an elastic oval, the egg is fresh, the way we need it. Fresh eggs have denser whites, so they hold their shape better, while old eggs have less dense whites, so although they whip faster, they settle just as quickly.

Citric acid is needed for better whipping of proteins. The acid gives the protein mass stability, and according to some versions, it also lightens the protein mass. Just don't add too much to avoid sour meringues.

A pinch of fine salt speeds up the whipping process. Although there is an opinion that salt, on the contrary, reduces the stability of the protein mass. You have to try this and that to check :)

Dishes for whipping egg whites

It should be quite roomy, since during whipping the mass increases by 4 times. And be sure to be dry and clean! It is important that there is no fat on the dishes or on the whisks, since fat molecules prevent proteins from forming a stable structure. Of course, everything fat is slippery, try to organize a strong molecular network with air bubbles inside! So thoroughly degrease the container and whisks of the mixer (you can wipe it with a lemon wedge) and wipe it dry.

How to separate yolks from whites

Previously, I poured from shell to shell. But in this case, the yolk can get caught on the sharp edge of the shell, and if even a drop of yolk gets into the whites, they will not whip up properly. Therefore, it is much more convenient to break an egg into your hand: the yolk ends up in the palm of your hand, and the white flows between your fingers into a bowl. You can use the yolks to make shortbread cookie dough.

We break each new egg over a separate container. If suddenly a stale one comes in or the yolk drips, you do not have to replace all the eggs.

Phew, we figured out the nuances! Now - the cooking process itself. It's faster to do than to read :)

How to bake:

Start beating the egg whites at low mixer speed until you add sugar. Beat the whites, adding a pinch of salt, for 2 minutes. At first a light foam will appear, gradually it will become whiter and thicker - until traces of the whisks begin to remain on it. So it's time to start adding sugar.

Continuing to beat, add sugar one teaspoon at a time (and add citric acid along with the first portion). Approximately 4-6 spoons of sugar per minute, that is, every 15-10 seconds. At the same time, gradually increase the beating speed to medium and then to maximum. In total, whipping takes 6-8 minutes, depending on the mixer.

How do you know when enough is enough? If these stable “mountain peaks” remain on the protein mass, which confectioners call “hard peaks” - you’re done!

Another fun way to check is to turn the bowl of whipped egg whites over. A well-beaten mass not only won’t fall out, it won’t even move! It's a little scary to turn over, but as you can see, everything worked out!

Now you can form the meringue. We cover the baking sheet with high-quality parchment, greasing the paper with a piece of butter so that the cakes do not stick.

You can simply spread the meringue with a teaspoon. But, if you want beautiful meringues, you should use a bag or a pastry syringe with a nozzle. You can place the protein mass in a bag and cut off its corner with cloves. And don’t worry, the mass will not settle due to such maneuvers. I checked. I put the whites in a cooking bag - it turned out to be a “white carrot”, light as a cloud.

You can also mold meringues using a pastry syringe with a nozzle, then they turn out like this:

Place the meringues on a baking sheet - you should leave a distance of 2-3 cm between them, since the meringues increase in volume during baking. I placed them a little closer together than I should have because they all barely fit on the baking sheet. Small meringues will dry out faster, large ones will take longer to cook and may remain slightly chewy in the middle.

Meanwhile, the oven already produces a stable temperature of 110C. 100C or 120C is allowed. But not higher - it will be taffy, and not lower - it won’t dry out enough.

Place the baking sheet with the meringue in the middle of the oven, close the door and go about your business. It’s better not to look into the oven for the first hour. Then you can look and check. The finished meringue becomes dry and light, the finger does not stick to its surface, and when tapped, a characteristic sound is heard. You can break one thing to try. My meringues took 2 hours to bake. But one and a half may be enough, because all ovens are different.

Leave the meringue in the oven until completely cooled. I left it until the morning.

And then you can taste a gorgeous homemade dessert - real meringue!

And with tea, and with coffee, and just like that, and for decorating cakes and pastries!

So, meringues, comrades!

It seems that I have already given here all the possible and impossible educational tips on the most common confectionery facaps: a lot of waste paper has already been written about the biscuit, cheesecakes have been written for you here and baked, and chocolate, and diet, pancakes and pancakes, all the most ideal recipes have been described in all details and with step by step photos.

What else ranks first in terms of the number of culinary hacks? Only the meringue remained without attention. Moreover, you also ask me to tell you how to prepare meringue so that it is beautiful, stable, tasty and crispy. Well, let's work on the mistakes?

You've probably seen, tried, or made scary brown meringue yourself. This is a catastrophe. Natural classic meringue should be snow-white. I myself often come across a lot of recipes on the Internet for so-called “meringue” with a slight brown tint. Don't trust them. This is not meringue. These are already cookies. The moment the meringue changed color, it stopped being a meringue and became a cookie.

Remember the main rule of the oven: The meringue is not baked, the meringue is dried.

Meringue is a French crispy cake made from meringue. Meringue is whipped egg whites with sugar. Meringue can be made from any type of meringue. There are three main varieties:

  1. French is the simplest and most common way to beat egg whites. Just beat the whites, gradually adding sugar.
  2. Swiss meringue is more stable. Here the whites are whipped in a water bath.
  3. Italian is the most stable and most labor-intensive type of meringue. Prepared with sugar syrup.

For meringues I prefer to do Swiss meringue. This meringue holds its shape perfectly, it is more stable compared to the French one, but the process is not as energy-intensive as in the Italian one.

The main thing

What should you do to make the meringue white, crispy and beautiful? Here are my 10 commandments.

  1. The ideal ratio of sugar proteins in meringue: 1 part protein to 2 parts sugar. That is, ideally you need to weigh the whites and take exactly 2 times more sugar.
  2. Separate the whites from the yolks while still cold, immediately after refrigeration (this makes them easier to separate). And then leave the whites for 30 minutes at room temperature, covered with cling film.
  3. In order for the whites to whip into a stiff foam, all utensils used for whipping the whites must be crystal clean and dry.
  4. For a water bath, it is advisable to use a metal or glass one. heat-resistant cookware .
  5. To stabilize meringue, confectioners use cream of tartar. If you can't get it, you can replace it with a few drops of lemon juice.
  6. The oven temperature for this method of preparing meringue should be maximum 100º. If the oven is powerful, then to avoid darkening it is better to reduce the temperature to 80º and increase the drying time to 2-3 hours.
  7. Drying time for meringue directly depends on their size. As a rule, this process takes 1 hour or more.
  8. During the first hour of drying do not open the oven! Otherwise, the meringues may crack or lose their shape.
  9. The easiest way to check the readiness of the meringue is to tear off one meringue from the baking sheet; if it comes off easily, then the meringue is ready. And if it sticks, it needs a few more minutes.
  10. Once the meringues are cooked, do not remove them from the oven immediately. Leave them in the oven overnight or until completely cooled to dry out the inside properly.

And the recipe for meringue on Swiss meringue

We will need:

  • egg whites, room temperature - 125 gr. (3−4 pcs.)
  • sugar - 250 gr.
  • *tartar or lemon juice - ¼ tsp.
  • a few drops vanilla extract (optional)
  • a few drops food coloring (optional)

*To get a perfectly stable meringue, I advise you to purchase cream of tartar. This is the best stabilizer for proteins, cream, etc. It is difficult to find in regular supermarkets. But he available on iHerb . Discount code - POR7412.

Before we begin, carefully read the 10 rules for making meringue ⇑

Preparation:

  1. Preheat the oven to 100º. Line a baking tray with baking paper or a silicone mat.
  2. Place the whites, sugar and essence in a heatproof bowl and place it in a water bath. The water should not touch the bowl!
  3. Constantly stirring with a whisk, heat the whites until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 4 minutes (wipe the protein mass between your fingers - you should not feel the grains) - this is very important!
  4. After the sugar has dissolved, remove the whites from the water bath, add lemon juice or cream of tartar and begin beating with a mixer at low speed for 4 minutes.
  5. Then increase the speed of the mixer (to maximum if the mixer power is less than 500 W, and to the penultimate scale if the mixer power is more than 500 W) and beat for another 3-4 minutes or until the mixer bowl cools to room temperature.
  6. If desired, add a couple of drops of essence or food coloring and beat for another 1 minute.
  7. Transfer the meringue into a pastry bag and place the meringue on the prepared baking sheet.
  8. Dry the meringue for 1 to 4 hours (depending on size), then turn off the oven and leave the meringue to dry overnight.

Now look at this little one video review on preparing the right meringue:

Swiss meringue is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

But I thought carefully and decided that for those who are especially lazy, I need to write down the easiest meringue recipe on French meringue. These bezeshki turn out crispy both inside and out, but the taste is in no way inferior to the above))

Here's my perfect meringue recipe using a simple French meringue.

Compound:

  • egg whites - 115 gr. (4 things.)
  • lemon juice - a few drops
  • sugar - 115 gr.
  • powdered sugar - 115 gr.

Cooking method:

  1. In a clean, dry bowl, with a mixer at medium speed, beat the whites until soft peaks form, i.e. the mass should turn white and hold on the whisk when lifted. Add a few drops of lemon juice.
  2. Then increase the speed of the mixer and, continuing to beat, gradually add sugar, adding 1 tablespoon at a time and beating for 3-4 seconds after each portion of sugar.
  3. When the mass becomes shiny and glossy, and the peaks hold their shape, turn off the mixer and sift 1/3 of the powdered sugar into the whites, mix gently and mix in the remaining two parts of powdered sugar in the same way.
  4. The rest is the same as last time: place the meringue on a baking sheet using a pastry bag and bake at 100ºC for 1 hour.
  5. After an hour, try removing one meringue from the baking sheet: if it comes off easily, then you can turn off the oven; if it sticks, leave it for another 30-45 minutes, or even 1 hour (this will depend on the size of your specific meringues).

    Another sure way to check the meringue for doneness is to break it in half: if it breaks and crunches, then it’s ready.

  6. The finished French meringue can be left in the turned off oven overnight, or you can take it out immediately and cool.

Store the finished pies in an airtight container (not in the refrigerator!) at room temperature for a week, or even more. To be honest, I keep them for months.

If, again, you still have any unresolved questions, ask in the comments below. ⇓ We will decide together.

Good luck, love and patience.