How To Make Basic Meringue

What Is Meringue

There are several types of meringue and each is prepared slightly differently – French (or basic), Swiss, and Italian. French is the most common to home cooks and is made by whipping together egg whites until they form soft peaks. Then, a touch of cream of tartar is whipped in and granulated sugar is slowly added. Cream of tartar is essential to meringue because it is acidic and helps to stabilize the egg whites to produce a pillowy meringue.

Tips to Making Meringue

• Use clean tools and preferably glass or metal. Plastic can often hold onto oils.
• Any fats/oil on the bowl or tools can cause the meringue to be weak and not whip to stiff peaks.
• Make sure all tools, such as bowls, mixing beaters, measuring spoons, measuring cups, etc, are clean.
• A trick is to wash the tools in warm soapy water with a little white vinegar. The vinegar will cut the oils.
• Eggs must be at room temperature. Either leave them out for several hours or, separate the cold eggs and let the egg whites sit out for 30 minutes to warm up.
• Egg whites need to be separated with care. Use an egg separator or carefully pass the egg yolk back and forth between the two eggshells until all the egg whites are separated.
• Check that no egg yolks or eggshells are in the egg white bowl. Any yolks will prevent the meringue from working.

Steps To Making Meringue

• Over a bowl, begin carefully separating the egg whites and yolks. This should be a different bowl than what the meringue will be prepared in.
• After the egg whites are separated, make sure it is free from any egg yolk or small shells. Then, add the egg whites to a glass or metal mixing bowl.
• With a stand mixer or hand mixer, on medium speed, beat the egg whites until just bubbly.
• Add the cream of tartar and any flavoring (like extracts) or coloring. Mix on medium-high speed.
• Continue mixing until soft peaks form. When soft peaks form, slowly add granulated sugar.
• Gradually add sugar; mix on medium-high speed between additions.
• Once all the sugar has been mixed in, mix on medium-high speed until it is shiny and stiff peaks have formed.
• Check after mixing for 2-4 minutes for a pie topping and 3-5 minutes for meringue cookies (time differs due to the amount of sugar and type of mixer). If it’s ready, the meringue will hold its shape when the beaters are lifted (for example, a stiff curl will form or there are stiff deep peaks). If it’s not quite ready, mix for another minute and check again. Do not over-beat or the egg whites will start to break down and fluid will appear under the meringue.

At this point, depending on the recipe, the meringue is ready to top a pie or be piped into cookies. The more sugar the recipe calls for the shinier the meringue will be and the longer it will take for the sugar to dissolve. Also, with our meringue cookies, there is a bit more sugar so it has a silkier sheen than meringue for a pie topping.

Meringue Pie Topping

• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/3 granulated sugar

1. Spread the meringue onto the hot pie filling and completely seal the crust. This prevents shrinking and from liquid forming under the meringue.

2. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

3. The top should have a nice toasted brown color. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Click here to save Meringue Pie Topping Recipe.

Meringue Cookies

• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp clear vanilla
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 10-15 drops food coloring, optional

1. To make cookies, pipe the meringue 1-inch apart onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Add a little meringue to the corners of the paper. This will help the parchment stay put while baking. You should get about 20 cookies per baking sheet.

2. Bake at 225 degrees for 45 minutes. Turn off the oven. Let cookies sit in the oven for another 45 minutes to continue to slowly bake and cool. If the cookies are a bigger size than pictured, they may need to sit and cool in the oven longer.

3. After 45 minutes, remove cookies from the oven to cool completely on the pan. When they are cool, store them in an air-tight container. 

To save the Meringue Cookies recipe, click here.