How to make meringues using sugar and egg whites. Crisp on the outside and chewy inside. Perfect for making pavlova, Eton Mess, meringue kisses and much more.
Meringues are such a wonderful thing! I knew they were an old recipe, but I didn't realize the first recipe using meringues dates back to an old French recipe book written in 1692!
Meringues can come in all shapes and sizes, often used in Pavlovas, or as little meringue nests, or broken up into bite-size pieces to make up an Eton Mess recipe.
In most cases, meringue is usually eaten with fresh whipped cream and fresh fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, soft summer fruits etc.
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It's an easy recipe consisting of 2 ingredients. Egg whites and sugar.
Some cooks add stabilizers to the recipe, but I have found it not necessary when I make this, so I will show you how I make meringues.
Follow the easy step by step instructions and you'll have perfect meringue, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Delicious!
Table of Contents 📋 hide
1) Prep time
2) Baking time
3) Serving size
4) Ingredients
5) Instructions
6) Top tips
7) Recipe
8) The Easiest Basic Meringue Recipe
9) Recipes Using Meringue
Prep time
15 minutes
Baking time
1 hour
Serving size
12-15 nests or 1 large nest
The large pavlova will serve 8-12 people, depending on how greedy they are!
Ingredients
4 Egg Whites
1 ¼ cups or 250 g regular sugar
Instructions
1.Switch the oven on to 110C, 225 F, ¼ G
2. Separate the egg whites and add them to the mixing bowl
Top tips
- Make sure your mixing bowl is free from any grease & very clean.
- If you are not sure, wipe some lemon juice on the inside of the bowl. If the bowl is greasy, the egg whites will not foam well, and this can result in a runny mixture
- Please take care not to get any egg yolk in the egg whites. Crack them separately just in case one of the yolks breaks.
3. Whisk on high speed until the whites are frothy as in the photo and stiff, so it doesn't fall back into the bowl.
Notice the meringue stays on the whisk attachment
4. Add the sugar and whisk again on high speed for 1 more minute.
5. Once you have added the sugar and whisk again, you will notice the egg whites take on a glossy shiny look.
Once glossy, it is at this point you may wish to add some food coloring or ½ teaspoon of a flavoring, such as Almond or vanilla.
You can add 2 drops of red food coloring and the meringue will turn pink etc.
6. Scoop out the meringue and place it in a blob in the center of your tray.
Using a spatula, push the meringue mixture in circular movements so it is as large as a serving dish (14 inches wide).
Form a wall or lip all around the meringue-like in the picture below, and making sure the base has got at least 2 cm of meringue (if not, the meringue will break once you try to remove from the baking tray)
You can make mini ones the size of saucers, using the same shaping method.
7. Place in the oven for 1 ½ hours.
8. Leave to cool completely before trying to remove from tray.
9. Once cooled, use a fish slice to very gently coax the meringue from the parchment paper and transfer to your serving dish.
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
The photo below shows how we've used the meringue to make a delicious Pavlova!
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
wp-recipe-maker/recipe {"id":12752
Recipe
The Easiest Basic Meringue Recipe
Yield: 12 - 15
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
How to make meringues using sugar and egg whites. Crisp on the outside and chewy inside. Perfect for making pavlova. Eton Mess, meringue kisses and much more.
Ingredients
- 4 Egg Whites
- 250 g or 1 ¼ cups regular sugar
Instructions
- Switch oven on to 110C, 225 F, ¼ G
- Separate the egg whites and add them to the mixing bowl.
- Make sure your mixing bowl is free from any grease & very clean. If you are not sure, wipe some lemon juice on the inside of the bowl. If the bowl is greasy, the egg whites will not foam well.
- Please take care not to get any egg yolk in the egg whites. Crack them separately just in case one of the yolks breaks.
- Whisk on high speed until the whites are frothy as in the photo and stiff, so it doesn't fall back into the bowl.
- Add the sugar and whisk again on high speed for 1 more minute.
- Once you have added the sugar and whisk again, you will notice the egg whites take on a glossy shiny look. This is when it is ready. See the photo
- Once glossy, it is at this point you may wish to add some food coloring or ½ teaspoon of a flavoring, such as Almond or vanilla. You can add 2 drops of red food coloring and the meringue will turn pink etc.
- If you want to, you can put the meringue mixture into a piping bag and make patterns, but I just use 2 big spoons, scoop out amounts and place on the tray on top of parchment / greaseproof paper. I like the meringues a bit 'uneven' and rough shaped!
Once I have them on the tray, I use the end of a spoon and make a small indentation in the center of each so I can put ice cream, whipped cream or fruits, but it is up to you what shape you want to make them and what size. The cooking time won't change
10. Place in the oven for 1 ½ hours.
11. Leave to cool completely before trying to remove from tray.
12. Once cooled, use a fish slice to very gently coax the meringue from the parchment paper and transfer to your serving dish.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12Serving Size: 12 - 15
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 86Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 18mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 0gSugar: 21gProtein: 1g
Recipes Using Meringue
Here's a selection of delicious recipes using Meringue
German Star Cookies
German Star Cookies, also known as Zimtsterne Cinnamon Cookies are a wonderful cookie for Christmas. They're crisp, chewy and spiced with all things nice! Naturally Gluten - Free too!
Mini Meringue Cookies
Mini Meringue Cookies! These are a wonderful sweet treat made up of just 2 ingredients. Incredibly easy to make and are perfect for adding to desserts or eating just as they are. |
Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie. A nice easy recipe with a perfect balance of lemon with sweet meringue. Always popular at family get togethers!
Chocolate Meringue Pie
Chocolate Meringue Pie. Easy to make and looks fabulous!
Blueberry and Lemon Meringue Cake
Blueberry Lemon Meringue Cake.
Blueberry lemon meringue cake is made up of delicious layers of meringue, fresh whipped cream, blueberry compote and a drizzle of lemon curd. A perfect summer dessert.
Fluffy Amaretti Style Lemon Almond Cookies
Fluffy Amaretti Style Lemon Almond Cookies. These amaretti-style cookies are as light as a feather and fat-free too!
Amaretti Style Cranberry and Orange Almond Cookies
Amaretti Style Cranberry and Orange Almond Cookies. These amaretti-style biscuits use minimal flour and have a light airy finish, fit to accompany desserts and drinks light as a feather and fat-free too!
Alfajor Rogel
Alfajor Rogel! This is a wonderful cake famous in Argentina. It's traditionally made for special occasions, Christmas and other celebrations. The cake is made up of delicious layers of very thin sweet pastry, sandwiched together with Dulce De Leche then covered with a beautiful meringue.
Wowza Summer Fruits Pavlova
Fruit Pavlova! A delicious, easy dessert with a mix of berries, ice cream, whipped cream sitting in a crisp meringue, and topped off with a fruit ripple sauce.
Amazing Peach Melba Trifle
Amazing Peach Melba Trifle! Dreamy layers of Lady Fingers, creamy vanilla pudding, peaches, raspberry sauce, whipped cream and meringue cookies. It can't get better than this!
Celebration Chaja Cake
Celebration Chaja Cake - A jaw dropping cake of amazingness all the way from Uruguay!
Rock Star Dessert
Rock Star Dessert! A delicious dessert made up of yellow cake and meringue and topped with whipped cream, delicious lemon curd and berries. It's a crowd pleaser!
