Neurophysiologists argue that while the meringue is in the mouth, we fall into a physiological illusion for a couple of minutes. On this page you will learn all the secrets of making meringues at home: 3 recipes.
Today's article will focus on making a French cake that can be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, or brittle and crumbly, or tender and melt in your mouth. It is no coincidence that the French called this airy dessert "kiss", emphasizing its sophistication and sweetness.
How to make a classic meringue?
The main ingredients of classic meringue are sugar and egg white. But for a variety of confectionery products, you can add chopped nuts, grated chocolate, marmalade, coffee, fruits, berries, jelly, spices and other fillers to your taste to the finished mass.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 285 kcal.
- Servings - 16
- Cooking time - 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- Egg whites - 4 pcs.
- Powdered sugar - 250 g
- Vegetable oil - for greasing the baking sheet
Making a classic meringue:
- Carefully separate the yolks from the whites.
- Beat the whites with a mixer on a slow speed until a thick and stable foam.
- Continue whisking, adding the icing sugar a little at a time. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until sugar is completely dissolved. The mass should be dense, elastic and stable.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush with vegetable oil.
- Put the whipped protein mass into a pastry bag, with the help of which squeeze it out in portions onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Send the meringues to bake in an oven heated to 100 degrees for about 1 hour.
How to make meringues at home in the microwave?
To make homemade meringue an airy snow-white delicacy, follow all the cooking technology, and then a wonderful result will not keep you waiting. And if you don't have an oven, then use the microwave for the same delicious cakes.
Ingredients:
- Proteins - 2 pcs.
- Salt - a pinch
- Sugar - 1 glass
- Vanillin - a pinch
- Flour - for dusting the baking sheet
- Vegetable oil - for greasing the baking sheet
Step by step cooking meringue at home:
- Carefully separate the whites from the yolks into a clean and dry dish. Add a pinch of salt and beat with a mixer until fluffy.
- Gradually add vanillin and 1 tablespoon each. sugar. Continue whisking until firm and firm.
- Grease a microwave oven baking sheet with vegetable oil and sprinkle with a little flour.
- Put the whipped meringue into a pastry syringe, with which squeeze it out in portions onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Turn on the microwave to a power of 750 watts and dry the meringues for 1–1, 5 minutes. At the end of the time, do not open the microwave door for 1–2 minutes for the meringues to ripen.
Oven meringue recipe
To serve the finished meringue in an original way, pour it with chocolate icing or butter cream, or put a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients:
- Chilled eggs - 5 pcs. (proteins only)
- Sugar - 250 g
- Lemon - 1 wedge
- Cornstarch - for dusting the baking sheet
Preparation:
- Wipe the protein bowl with a lemon wedge. Then separate the whites from the yolks so that not a single drop of the yolk gets into the container with the whites.
- Beat the egg whites for 2 minutes on the lowest speed and start adding sugar a little at a time.
- Gradually increase the speed to maximum and continue whisking the egg whites until they become a thick, stable foam.
- Line a baking sheet with baking paper and sprinkle with cornstarch. Heat the oven to 100 degrees.
- Transfer the protein mixture to a pastry bag or plastic bag, cut off the tip on one side, and gently squeeze the meringue onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Dry the meringues in the oven for 1–1.5 hours without opening the door. If you want to get a sticky meringue inside, then set the temperature to 150 degrees and bake them for 20 minutes. You can check the readiness with your finger: the top is hardened, which means it's ready.
How to cook meringues correctly: tips
In the photo meringue with chocolate chips Despite the fact that the ingredients for making meringue contain a small amount of products, many people think that it is very easy to prepare. However, this is a rather capricious dessert that can behave unpredictably. Therefore, to bake meringues at home, you need to choose the right recipe. Then you will achieve perfection in the preparation of protein dough, and it should be at the same time airy, light, foamy, plastic, dense and well-retaining its shape. Owning all the secrets, your cake will turn out to be beautiful and tasty.
The secrets of the French culinary art of making the perfect homemade meringue:
- It is advisable to choose glass, plastic, copper or porcelain dishes for whipping. Aluminum containers will give the proteins a slightly gray tint.
- Always use a dry and clean container and whisk - no water is allowed.
- Among experienced chefs, there is an opinion that if you wipe the whipping dishes with a slice of lemon, then the proteins will turn out to be especially steep and fluffy.
- Always observe the temperature regime, because meringues are not baked, but dried. If your oven has a convention function, use it to remove any hint of moisture.
- Before cooking, the proteins should be in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, then they will beat perfectly.
- Separate the white from the yolk carefully, as getting the yolk into the protein (even a little!) will not allow it to whip to the desired consistency. Also, the protein will not churn if fat gets in, for example, from unwashed dishes.
- To be on the safe side, drive the whites of each egg into a clean plate as eggs may not be fresh.
- Use powdered sugar instead of sugar, it will dissolve faster and better. Coarse sugar may not have time to completely break, from which it will crunch on your teeth.
- Sugar is introduced into proteins gradually in small portions. The mass is whipped with a mixer, first at a minimum speed so that it is saturated with oxygen, after which the speed increases to an average mode. It is advisable not to use the maximum speed, otherwise you can skip the readiness of the proteins, they will be interrupted, settle and water will separate.
- It is better to use eggs from a week ago, because during storage, the protein becomes drier, which makes it much easier to beat.
- To keep the meringue dry and stable, the whites are whipped to "hard peaks" when raising the whisk of the mixer, the whites stand confidently and firmly.
- The exact temperature and baking time depends only on the oven and the result you want to achieve: keep its shape and snow-white color or get an airy baked meringue, while losing its whiteness. Also, the size of the meringue affects the cooking time.
- When the meringues are baked, they must be left in the oven for an hour or two to dry and dry.
- Do not open the oven when baking the meringue, otherwise they will fall off.
- It is convenient to cook meringues in the evening, so that for your morning breakfast you get a wonderful dessert of the desired degree of dryness.
- Check the texture of the cake after it has cooled completely, because warm meringue may be still moist and slightly viscous in the middle.
- If the recipe requires the addition of flour and starch to the protein mass, then they must be sieved to saturate with air, then the dough will not lose its airiness.
Observing all the subtleties of cooking meringue, you will get it, similar to light clouds. The cake will melt in your mouth, leaving a sweet-delicate aftertaste that you will want to relive again. Prepare airy meringues and enjoy a great French dessert!
Video meringue recipe:
Photos of finished culinary products:
