There are three types of meringue but this is by far my favorite because it is easy to make and very stable. Besides, you can use it to make endless other sweets.
INGREDIENTS
• 720g or 25oz Egg whites*
• 275g or 9.7oz (almost 10oz) Sugar
PROCEDURE
We need to cook the egg whites and sugar over a Bain Marie (lightly simmering water inside a pot), so the first thing that you have to do is to make sure that you can fit the bottom of the bowl where you’ll mix the egg whites and sugar in the pot. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water; you should simply be able to fit the bowl inside the pot at least 1/3 of the way down.
Then add some water to the pot, maybe just a ¼ or 1/3 of the height of the pot and start heating.
Combine egg whites and sugar in your bowl and give it a nice whisk, make sure the two ingredients have combined.
Place the bowl in the pot and mix the ingredients often. You don’t have to stay with it but you can’t also forget about it. Stay close and mix the two ingredients every minute or so. Even though you will get a very shiny meringue if you stay with it (and if you have the time).
At this point you could add vanilla bean or whole spices to infuse into your meringue. Though don’t add extracts yet because most of the flavor would evaporate. I’ll tell you when you can.
Make sure the water never comes to a hard simmer, it should be soft and you should be able to see just tiny bubbles on the bottom of the pot.
When the temperature of the egg whites + sugar reaches 65ºC or 149ºF then you know it’s ready. You can also check by touching the mixture and rubbing it against your fingers, you will no longer feel granules of sugar.
You can now whip your mixture until it becomes beautiful meringue. It will take a good 10 minutes or so and it should come all the way down to room temperature.
At this point you can add extracts like vanilla, almond or lemon and color it to make beautiful creations.
Once the meringue looks like marshmallow fluff and it is a room temp, it is time to use!
MERINGUE KISSES:
If you want to make the meringue kisses I show on my YouTube video, bake them at 200ºF for 3-4 hours depending on the size OR for 2 hours, turn the oven off and leave them in overnight.
Note*: use fresh egg whites for best results. The egg whites in a carton like the ones you find in the supermarket to make egg white omelets will NOT work unless they are the ones specifically for pastry.
Now you can make Swiss meringue buttercream, meringue kisses, top pies and much more!
