How I make meringue

I thought this would be a nice thing to share, since I ramble about my love for meringue all the time. Teeheee.

I realize, especially amongst my friends, that meringue is totally under-rated. That makes me sad! Therefore, to fix this misconception about meringue, here is how I do it!

The recipe I use is an adaptation of Joy the Baker's pavlova recipe. Basically, I halved it. :) 

If you want to be successful with meringue, check and double check that your bowls are NOT greasy or wet. Any speck of either and you fail! I have heard that metal or glass mixing bowls are best for this reason, but I use plastic all the time and just make sure I wash and dry them really well before I make meringue.

Also, don't bother making this if you don't have an electric mixer. I loooooove meringue in every shape and form but I would never-ever-ever-EVER make it by hand... and not just because I'm lazy! Lol!

YOU WILL NEED:

2 large egg whites (about 1/2 cup, google says 1.18294118 dl), room temperature!!
pinch of salt
pinch of cream of tartar (or use vinegar, perhaps a 1/2 Finnish tsp)


3/4 cup sugar (2 dl)
2 1/4 US tsp corn starch  (2 1/2  Finnish tsp)
about 1 tsp vanilla, depending on your taste

(food dye gel)

Note: I use granulated sugar, but in an ideal world I would use extra fine sugar. I am just too frugal to spend the extra few cents. Lol! The granulated sugar leaves the meringue a bit gritty, which doesn't bother me. If it bothers you, try Martha's method of warming the whites with the sugar over a double boiler, that is supposed to melt the sugar down. I tried it once and thought it was a hassle, but that's just me.
Also, I use vanilla sugar (yes, it's in an imitation vanilla sugar bottle), because I like vanilla sugar more. However, it has black specks which might be displeasing to some...so then just use the imitation kind! Same goes for the US folks who use vanilla extract. I have used pure vanilla extract before and it tastes delicious but gives the white meringue a tint... I've read on some other blogs that they use clear imitation vanilla extract to avoid this.

DIRECTIONS:

In a CLEAN and DRY bowl, add egg whites with a pinch of salt and cream of tartar (or vinegar). In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, corn starch and vanilla.

(before egg whites)

Start beating the egg white mixture on a low speed, increasing slowly to mid-speed. Beat until soft peaks form...Basically it was a minute or two after this...

Next start slowly adding in small increments the sugar mixture, increasing speed gradually as you go. Once all the sugar is mixed in, increase speed to max if you aren't there yet. Beat until the meringue is very stiff, like this:

It should hang like so from the whisks and you should see really well formed trails as you are beating the meringue. I think I could have gone for stiffer yet, but I am always concerned about over-doing it. This is already really thick!

Now, you can go ahead and pipe the meringue now, or make really delicious pillowy mini-pavlovas. (serve with fruit and whipped cream).

OR you can go the extra mile and divvy up the meringue into bowls, dying them with food gel and mixing VERY carefully.

I used pink and green in honor of Easter.

Then I take a plastic baggy and fit it with the large star tip, cutting off a very small end of the bag to fit. I use the plastic baggy because I don't have a piping bag and I am too lazy to wash the decorating set I have. What floats your boat, ya know. 

Then fill the baggy from the corner and gently push the air out of the top and close. Now you are ready to pipe!

I didn't get a picture of piping since I needed both hands, but to make a kind of "star drop" like in the picture, you just pipe a bit of meringue and apply more pressure as you push down and pull up quickly stopping the pressure. If you like rosettes, here is a video for that!

Then bake in a 275 F or 135ish C oven for about 30 min, taking care not to bump or open the oven. Keep an eye on it to make sure it isn't browning, if it is, turn the oven off. If all is well after 30 min, Turn the oven off and leave for several hours or even overnight to dry.

And voila! You have beautiful meringues! :)

I would really appreciate any comments if anyone makes this... I would like to hear if you thought it was/wasn't easy and if it worked out for you!

Me thinks an Easter wrap-up post shall be next... Just gotta finish uploading the pictures etc.

Thanks for reading, see ya next time!