Whip it Good: Make Perfect French Meringue - Bake from Scratch (2024)

FAQs

What are the three rules for making a successful meringue? ›

Use eggs at room temperature. Cold egg whites tend to reduce meringue volume. Never let any yolk get into the whites. Don't overbeat egg whites.

Beat to soft peaks on medium-high speed. Gradually add the sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until it has all been incorporated. Continue beating until glossy, stiff peaks form. At this point, you can't overbeat the meringue, so keep beating until you've got those glossy, firm peaks!

Over whip the egg whites and you risk making them too firm and they will risk losing the moisture that they hold. This will affect your meringue's crispness, as well as making it more likely to collapse or weep beads of sugar. As my meringue guru Gary Mehigan advises: “If you over whip the egg whites you cannot fix it.

Cornstarch: Cornstarch is an excellent way to foolproof your meringue. Use it to create added fluff and keep your hard-won volume from shrinking. Cream of Tartar: Often added in when making meringues, acidic cream of tartar provides lift and stabilization.

Slow and steady is the fast and hard rule for any meringue. Start slow when whipping the whites for small and stable bubbles, slowly up the tempo so you don't over beat and then slowly add the sugar. This goes for your oven too. We're not cooking, so much as drying out the meringue.

Cream of tartar: Cream of tartar is acidic, and it works to add better stabilization to meringue. The acid can be substituted for lemon juice or vinegar.

Over-beating

It's possible to take it too far. After the stiff peak stage, egg whites will start to look grainy and dull. They will eventually collapse back on themselves. Whipped cream will also get grainy and will start to separate into fat and liquid.

If you need your meringue to have stiff peaks, you whisk it until the little peaks stand straight up from the whisk when you lift it out of the bowl, and the meringue doesn't fall out of the bowl when you turn it upside down.

Besides sugar, there are several other tools that can help in meringue stabilization. I employ three of them in my less-sweet pie meringue: acid, starch, and gelatin. Acid: Adding acid (typically cream of tartar, but can also be vinegar or lemon juice) lowers the pH of the egg whites.

Why is my French meringue not getting stiff? ›

If you add the sugar too quickly then the mixture will never acquire the stiff consistency you want. You also need to be careful if you've used extra ingredients to flavour your meringues. Oils (such as those in nuts or zest) and liquids can stop the egg whites from stiffening, so you have to experiment with amounts.

The ideal point to whisk to is stiff peak, where the whites stand in a rigid point that doesn't fall back down on itself when the beaters are lifted. If the peaks are too soft when you add sugar, the meringue mixture risks being sloppy and will never thicken.

The cornflour and vinegar that is added strengthens the egg white and make it more stable and you get the marshmallowy centres from the shorter cooking time.

It can be made with any sugar. One cup of superfine sugar or packed brown sugar is equal to 1 cup of granulated sugar; 1-3/4 cups powdered sugar equals 1 cup granulated. Superfine sugar may dissolve more readily and produce a smoother glossier meringue, but volume will not be as great.

Whether it be vinegar, lemon juice, cream of tartar, or a combination, an acid will greatly improve the structure of meringue. Acid not only helps meringue whip up and aerate more quickly, it also keeps it stable. Without acid, meringue is more likely to collapse either during or after mixing.

beat the whites low and slow to start!

You want to start the egg whites on a low speed, and wait until the entire surface is covered in tiny, uniform bubbles – with no “hole” in the center. This means a nice stable base that will hold up when you increase the speed and add the sugar, and result in a sturdy meringue.

There are three stages of meringue stiffness: soft, firm and stiff peaks. As you keep whipping your egg whites, the peaks will transition from soft to firm to stiff. It's important to pause your mixing to check your peak stiffness level if you're unsure how far along your meringue is.

At the very core, meringue is a sweet dessert topping made from whipped egg whites and sugar, but there are actually three types —Italian Meringue, French Meringue, and Swiss Meringue.

There are in fact three major types: French, Swiss, and Italian. The distinction depends on how the key ingredients — egg whites and sugar — are combined and whether any heat is involved in the process.