Meringue (Cookie) Recipe

December 28, 2012 

No baking for me today, but I thought I would talk a little bit more about meringues before we get started on making macarons in a couple of days. I have found that you either love or hate meringues. They’re quite sweet, but they aren’t meant to be eaten in excess. One or two is good enough for me. I like meringues because the texture is just so unique and they look so elegant. They melt in your mouth, are super easy to make and impress dinner guests.

Here is the following recipe that I use: 

Ingredients:

2 Extra Large Egg Whites

Slightly Less than ½ Cup of Sugar

1 Pinch of Cream of Tartar

1 Pinch of Salt

A dash of Vanilla (or other flavourings)

I realize that some of the measurements are not exact, but that is because you need to tailor the recipe to your own taste. A half cup of sugar is a bit too much, but a quarter cup is not enough so I like to use an ‘in between’ amount. You can be generous (but not overly) with the cream of tartar. The cream of tartar is a stabilizer and it doesn’t taste like anything so don’t worry if you accidentally put ‘too much’ in.

Now here is the method to the meringue madness: 

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit

Make sure not to raise the temperature. If you do your beautiful white meringues will turn a brownish tone.

Prepare 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper

Fit a disposable (do not use cloth as these breed bacteria after the first use) piping bag with a large tip of your choice)

Crack the eggs; separate the eggs from the whites (my favourite way to do this is to toss the yolk back and forth between the two halves of the cracked shells or you can use a sieve)

Once you have the egg whites in a bowl, sprinkle the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla/flavourings directly into the egg whites

Whip the egg whites (and other ingredients that you have added to them) until peaks form

There are a few ways to see if peaks have formed enough. Many say not to ‘overbeat’ the egg whites, but I have noticed from the many trials and errors that there is no such thing as ‘overbeating’ in this stage. To test if the peaks are ready, lift up the hand whisk, hand mixer or stand mixer beaters up. If the peak does not wilt whatsoever, you are ready for the next step.

Add the sugar little by little and I mean LITTLE.

This is where most first time meringue makers fail. I know I did! I added the sugar way too fast and wondered why no matter how much I whipped, the meringues were soupy and falling flat. Add the sugar a tablespoon (approximately) at a time and check every so often to make sure that those stiff peaks are still there. By the time you are done incorporating all of the sugar, the mixture should be a pure and shiny white.

Take the prepared piping bag and fill it with the prepared meringue (you can skip this step and simply spoon the meringue like cookies onto the prepared baking sheets if you like)

There’s a few ways to fill a piping bag. You can fold over the top and simply fill it that way (the piping bag will generally stay open) or you can use a giant mug or tall glass to hold the bag in place for you while you fill the bag. Once the bag is filled, twist the top and hold it with your thumb and index finger.

Do NOT overfill the bag as the meringue will pop out the top as you are trying to pipe.

Pipe out the meringues

I like to form swirls or hearts and I also like to keep the meringues fairly small as they are much more enjoyable in smaller quantities. Pipe the meringues about a half inch apart as the meringues do puff up slightly.

Place meringues in the preheated oven 

Check on the meringues after about fifteen to twenty minutes to make sure that your meringues aren’t browning. If they are, turn the temperature down. Don’t be too concerned with the meringues baking slowly. They will take about an hour to an hour and a half to bake. They might still feel squishy after that, but if the top doesn’t feel too sticky or squishy to the touch (there may be a slight squish), then they are most likely ready. Leave the pans in the oven, turn the oven off and leave the oven door slightly ajar for about thirty to forty minutes. After that, your meringues should feel light and airy and easily come off of the parchment paper with little effort. If they are still sticky, don’t be worried. Pop the meringues back into a two hundred degree oven and bake them a little longer. Uncooked meringues are very easy to fix, but burnt ones aren’t so I repeat, do not turn up the oven temperature.

There are a multitude of flavourings that you can use for meringues. I sometimes like to use peppermint extract or almond extract. It’s also super delicious to sprinkle on toasted coconut or slivered almonds. If you are interested in the aesthetic aspect of meringues (as am I), then there are countless ways to add that dazzle to the sweet confection. You can add edible gel dyes (don’t use the regular food colouring you can get at the supermarket as this adds liquid and it creates a less dramatic colour effect), edible glitter, sprinkles or whatever else that can beautify your creations. 

Here are some mocha, slivered almond and vanilla swirled meringues that I made for a customer's first birthday party

If you have any difficulties, let me know! I am here to help.

For more pictures of SDBake Shoppe's yummy meringues visit our website and our Facebook page.

Beautiful Baking Fellow Sweeties