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Beat
Egg Whites - Meringue
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 RAW EGG
WARNING
The American Egg Board states: There have been warnings against
consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may
be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of
foodborne illness. About
safe egg whites. |
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Meringue is made
from
beaten egg whites
where
sugar
is added during the process to
stabilize them.
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Different
types of meringue are used in baking recipes.
Some examples are:
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Meringue is made basically
by beating together room temperature egg whites and sugar in either a
crystalline or syrup form. There are
different types of meringue:
soft or ordinary or European meringues such as French, Italian and Swiss.
HOW MAKING MERINGUE
WORKS: Beating or whisking causes the
protein in the egg whites to unfold, forming films that trap the air bubbles,
and the sugar stiffens the foam. By varying the amount of sugar in the final
mix, you control how hard or soft the final meringue will be. As the mixing time
increases, the bubbles become smaller and more numerous; this increases the
volume and makes a more-stable structure. (A beaten egg white can increase six
to eight times its original volume.)
 Warning:
The bowl in which you whip egg
whites should be immaculately clean and completely grease-free. Even
the tiniest bit of grease (or egg yolk) will cause them to break down into a
pathetic soup. Recipes sometimes call for the addition of cream of tartar or
lemon juice to aid whipping. Some people swear by
copper bowls for maximum
volume. |
Once you
start a making whipped egg whites, continue it straight through and finish it
off. Don't stop halfway to take a break. After you have finished whipping the
egg whites, use them immediately; they'll start deflating in 5 minutes or so.
Some meringues are cooked or baked. This will set the
structure. During heating, the air bubbles expand, causing the volume to expand
until the white's protein network surrounding the bubbles solidifies.
Sugar fills an
important role in meringue. It stabilizes the beaten egg white foam which
enables it to sit longer and hold its shape better than without.
Sugar pulls the water from the eggs and allows it to set
better. When using sugar, your meringue can run the risk of getting a gritty
texture. To solve this, I like to use superfine sugar when making meringue
because it dissolves faster than table sugar.
The challenge in making perfect
meringue is neither to under- nor overbeat the eggs. Underbeating introduces too
little air, and the batter will rise inadequately. If overbeaten (read recipe
carefully for the terms "soft peaks" and
"stiff peaks"), the mixture can separate. However,
overbeating will cause the proteins to lose their ability to hold the small air
bubbles causing it to lose volume or collapse. Some
information from http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/2004/0104CC.html
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If a whipped
egg white recipe does not include sugar, and they will eventually be
folded into a base, I recommend adding in a couple of tablespoons of white
sugar anyway; just a small amount will stabilize the whipped whites. Continue
whipping until the whites begin to hold their shape and become opaque.
Increase the speed to medium-high and gradually add the granulated sugar
in a slow stream. |
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MERINGUE TYPES & USES, PLUS
TIPS:
There are
different
types of
meringue.
Regular meringue is uncooked.
French meringue is baked. Italian and Swiss meringues are
cooked. The ratio of sugar to egg
whites, the mixing and cooking techniques, determines the type of meringue.
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TYPE: |
RATIO: |
EGG WHITE PEAK: |
HOW TO: |
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Raw egg whites or baked:
Uncooked meringue is not as stable as a cooked
one. |
SOFT or ORDINARY:
Regular Meringue
Recipe /
Chocolate Meringue Recipe
is made by beating egg whites, then beating
in the sugar until soft or stiff peaks form. Use pasteurized powdered egg
white or meringue powder if consuming.
 | Baked as a topping |
| Poached in dollops in milk or water and
served with custard or sauce. Can make dollops by
piping or
simply scooping with a nicely sized ice cream scoop. |
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You need at least 1-1/2 tablespoons of
sugar per egg white to get a stable meringue.
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Beaten until soft or stiff egg white peaks form |
Egg whites
are beaten with sugar in a certain way:
In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment,
beat the room temperature egg whites on low speed until foamy.
Then, add one at a time, the cream of tartar or lemon juice and any
flavorings, such as vanilla extract.
Continue whipping until the whites begin to hold their shape and become
opaque. Increase the speed to medium-high and gradually add the granulated
sugar in a slow stream. Beat until the whites thicken and form soft, droopy
and glossy white peaks form when you slowly lift the beaters from the
meringue. If a recipe calls for stiff peaks, continue beating until stiff
peaks form. Do not overbeat. |
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TYPE: |
RATIO: |
EGG WHITE PEAK: |
HOW TO: |
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Cooked meringue is more stable
than an uncooked one. Incorporating a
cooked sugar syrup into the egg whites, egg yolks, or whole eggs makes the
eggs safe to eat. This "hot" sugar syrup added to the whipped eggs,
kills the Salmonella bacteria if |
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FRENCH MERINGUE:
hard meringue French Meringue
Recipe - Has a delicate texture making it perfect for
delicate desserts. Can be
piped into
mushroom-shaped meringue or
dessert shells and
hardened by baking. The meringue mushrooms are used to decorate the
traditional Christmas cake -- the
"Bűche de Noel" or Yule Log.
Or, made into baked meringue
shells, used for desserts with sweet fillings, also baked.
Use immediately or store loosely
covered at room temperature up to 3 days. |
4 tablespoons of sugar per egg white.
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Beaten until stiff peaks form |
The
French type, which this recipe uses, starts with raw egg whites and adds the
sugar in stages; then the meringue is poached or baked in its form:
Beat until foamy, then sugar, granulated or
powdered, is added. The whites are whipped until they form stiff glossy
peaks and triple in volume. It is important to add the sugar slowly and at
the beginning so it has time to dissolve, otherwise the meringue will be
grainy.
Spoon meringue gently into large pastry bag
fitted with 1/2-inch fluted tip; fill in traced circles on baking sheets,
starting at center of each circle and working to outside edge, in even
spiral. When all circles are filled, pipe a standing rim around
circumference of each circle.
Bake meringue shells until dry and very pale
beige, 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Turn off oven; let meringues stand in oven with
door closed 2 hours. Remove baking sheets to wire racks; let meringues stand
15 minutes; then carefully loosen them with wide flat metal spatula and
transfer to wire racks. Let cool completely.
Baked meringues should be stored in airtight, moisture
free containers. They can usually keep for a week at room temperature and up
to a month in the freezer. |
ITALIAN or BOILED FROSTING:
Italian Meringue is soft. Cooked more than the Swiss Meringue
making it the most stable type. Used
as a:
| Cake frosting such
as
Italian
Buttercream Recipe |
| Topping like a soft meringue |
| Folded into whipped cream (Chantilly
Meringue) |
| Baked or poached as in other types, in
milk or water. Can make dollops by
piping or
simply scooping with a nicely sized ice cream scoop.
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| Is good for making
cassatas, Baked Alaska |
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2 tablespoons of sugar per egg white. |
Beaten until form stiff peaks.
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The Italian type cooks sugar and water to form a hot syrup, then adds it to
the beating egg whites to "cook" the whites: .Add
cooked sugar (at the
soft ball stage)
in a steady stream at the side of the bowl while whipping egg whites. Both
are whipped until cool. The meringue becomes thick and glossy and doubles in
volume. |
HARD or
SWISS:
Swiss Meringue Recipe
Has a firmer texture than
French meringue. Perfect to use for making decorations or bases for
desserts.
| Baked until crisp in dry in a pie plate
(Angel Pie) Filled with custard and fruit.
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| Baked until crisp and dry for cookies and
confections (Meringue Cookies) |
| Baked in a springform pan, until outside
just crisp and inside still chewy. Topped with fruit and whipped cream (Pavlova)
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| Poached in dollops in milk or water
(Floating Island). Can make dollops by
piping or
simply scooping with a nicely sized ice cream scoop.
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| Piped and then baked to make flowers, etc.
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1 cup sugar per 4 large egg whites |
Beaten until stiff peaks form. |
The
Swiss style mixes the egg whites and sugar and cooks them over a double
boiler to a temperature of 130 degrees to stabilize the meringue:
Whisk egg whites and sugar while heating over
simmering water. Here the sugar melts which makes the finished
meringue more stable.
After heating, the meringue is whipped until
cool and increased in volume.
Baked meringues should be stored in airtight, moisture
free containers. They can usually keep for a week at room temperature and up
to a month in the freezer.
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MERINGUE
PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS:
Your meringue pie is perfect.
You store it overnight in the refrigerator. In
the morning, the pie has a watery layer between the filling and meringue, which
has also pooled in the pie pan. After baking the meringue shrank so much that it
no longer covers the pie's filling. Or, it has tiny beads on the surface of the
meringue and is hard to cut. What happened ? These are just a few of the
problems you can have with meringue. There are ways to prevent these problems.
Review my tips
for making successful meringue:
PREVENTING PROBLEMS, IN GENERAL:
 Make
it hot Heat the filling immediately before
pouring it into the pie shell and topping with the meringue. Do not allow the
filling to cool down before the meringue has been spread or the pie may weep
because the cool filling prevents the meringue from baking completely. The
meringue will also shrink less if you do.
Add
cornstarch to meringue
Cornstarch added to meringue produces tender meringues that are less likely to
shrink, bead or weep. Add a tablespoon of cornstarch
dissolved in heated water to whipped egg whites for a hard meringue that cuts
smoothly.
Beat
egg whites the best way For
maximum volume, use room temperature egg whites. Begin beating the egg whites
slowly, increasing speed when they are frothy and beating until soft peaks just
begin to form. Continue beating, slowly adding the sugar and then the
cornstarch mixture. Beat the egg
whites until stiff peaks form, this takes a little time. Egg whites are ready
when the beaters leave ridges in the whites and they are glossy and hold a stiff
peak when the beaters are lifted out.
Spread
meringue to edge of crust
Then make the filling, pour into the pie crust while it is still hot and
sprinkle a little fine cake or bread crumbs on top. They will virtually
disappear by the time the pie is ready to be served.
Immediately top with
one-half of the meringue over the hot filling, starting at the outside edge.
I like to use the back of a spoon to spread it, making sure there is a dry seal
between the filling and meringue. Also, make sure the
meringue touches the crust around the entire edge to avoid shrinkage.
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 Q:
Whenever I make meringues, they get stuck on the baking sheets. Do you have
any suggestions for keeping them from sticking?
A: You should make sure the meringues are really,
really baked -- dried, actually -- and if you can't get them off, run a
spatula under them and the parchment paper. You should also keep
the oven low -- try 325 for about 30 minutes with the door slightly open.
Then let them dry with the heat off for a few hours. Hope this works for
you. |
Pile the
remaining meringue on top and swirl it with a spoon. I do a
scooping motion on top of the meringue while touching it, which make pretty
peaks scattered about.
WEEPING
MERINGUE: When water seeps between the
filling and the meringue, the pie is weeping.
Weeping is a common problem with meringue pies,
but it is avoidable.
Some
Theories as to Why:
Meringue for a pie is simply beaten whipped egg whites and sugar, spread on top
and then quickly broiled so it lightly browns. The original intent of a
meringue-topped pie is to eat it right away; it will start to break down
immediately, showing up as water in the bottom of the pan.
Some feel that it is really a watery
layer that forms because of the interaction between the filling and the
meringue; weeping is caused by undercooked meringue which frequently occurs when
beaten meringue is spooned onto a cool filling.
Others feel that egg whites weep if
they are over-beaten or are from old eggs.
Unfortunately, we do know that
refrigeration makes a meringue pie "weep" even more than if you just cover it
(with an inverted bowl) and set it on the counter.
Also, as with all whipped and
uncooked egg whites, as they sit atop the pie in storage, they start to break
down or denature, forming water in the bottom of your pie, called weeping.
 SEVERAL
SOLUTIONS TO WEEPING MERINGUE:
1. Add some
cornstarch:
I've incorporated a food styling
trick into meringue recipes: adding a cornstarch mixture to the egg whites
to stabilize the meringue. It prevents
the egg proteins from overcooking which causes shrinkage, beading or
weeping in the meringue. Food stylists
use this technique and have used it during photo shoots to produce
beautiful pies. Now I use it for the pies I bake at home, too.
CORNSTARCH MIXTURE
RECIPE: Per 4 egg whites, stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch into 1/3
cup cold water, heat while stirring until the starch thickens. Set aside
to cool. After the sugar has been beaten into the meringue and it forms
soft peaks, add cornstarch mixture 1 TBSP at a time, beating to stiff
peaks.
2. Pre-cook the
meringue, which I recommend. Uncooked meringue is unstable. The
best way to stabilize is to cook it before putting it on the pie. Pre-Cooked
Meringue Recipes:
My favorite
Lemon
Meringue Pie Recipe uses this
technique and I always have great success: In
a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the sugar and water
until the sugar is completely moistened. Cook until the syrup boils. Turn
the heat to low. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites
until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form.
Bring the sugar syrup to 236 degrees and slowly drizzle the sugar syrup
down the side of the mixing bowl into the whites with the motor of the
mixer running. Beat the whites for an additional 2 minutes until shiny.
3.
Beat egg whites to almost their full capacity:
If less than, egg white foam will have poor
volume. The cause may be that the bowls or beaters probably have some
grease on them.
4. Dissolve the
sugar thoroughly: Bakers know to use
superfine sugar when
making meringues because it quickly dissolves well in cold and
room-temperature liquids. Meringues will also weep if there's any
undissolved sugar. First, beat the whites until they form soft peaks, then
sprinkle the sugar on top of the whites. Let the whites and sugar sit for
5 minutes--don't stir! You want to dissolve the sugar because any that is
undissolved will weep. Finally, rebeat them until stiff peaks form. Spread
the meringue over pie filling. Bake as usual.
5.
Add Piping gel:
It
helps to stabilize the meringue on pies.
Just
use about
one tablespoon for each three to four egg whites.
It helps to keep them from “weeping”.
6. Always seal the
edges of the pie or any other recipe with meringue: Beaten
egg whites insulate the filling from the heat when baking.
7.
Make sure the
filling is hot, even boiling, before pouring it into the pie shell:
Immediately spread the meringue over the filling. The hot filling will
begin to cook the meringue from the bottom, ensuring even cooking
throughout.
8.
Store properly:
A
Lemon Meringue Pie
or any meringue topped pie can stand at room
temperature in a draft-free spot under an inverted bowl. But, if
refrigerated, it speeds up the process of the meringue "weeping". However,
custard and cream meringue topped pies always have to be kept refrigerated
because the filling is perishable.
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OTHER MERINGUE PROBLEMS:
Beading
or moisture droplets This happens when water
droplets form tiny beads on the surface of the meringue. It's caused by
overbaking the meringue. When egg whites bake too long, they begin to tighten,
squeezing out little drops of moisture. Over-baking also produces a tough
meringue.
Solution
Meringue needs to be cooked to 160 degrees F but not so long that they are
overdone. Lower the oven heat and bake for a shorter time. Bake meringues just
until they are light brown and dry to the touch.
It can also be caused by
under- or over-mixing, or too little sugar
was used.
Shrinkage
Meringues may shrink during baking, separating from
the crust. This is caused by the meringue not clinging to the crust.
Solution
Make sure the meringue
is spread over the hot filling and touches the crust around the entire edge; do
not leave any openings around the pie. Also, add a
cornstarch mixture.
Limp
or soggy Humidity affects a meringue's
texture. Damp, humid days may cause it to be limp and sticky.
Solution
Ideally, meringue should be made on
dry days. The cornstarch mixture helps
them hold up under humid conditions, but to ensure success, plan to bake when it
is less humid.
Cracked
meringues or pavlovas
Solution Too much moisture, or too much egg white to too little
sugar.
Meringues stick to baking sheets
Solution Use nonstick baking paper such as
parchment paper or silpat baking mats. DO NOT grease; fat deflates meringue
(beaten egg whites).
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