MERINGUES
During this time leading up to Carnival, why not prepare colorful and tasty meringues in addition to your traditional Carnival treats?
Many people think meringues are difficult to make at home, as did I until recently. But with this recipe, I’ll reveal the secrets to creating wonderful meringues you can enjoy on their own or use to create or decorate fantastic desserts.
A quick and easy recipe that yields cheerful and colorful meringues using simple, common ingredients like eggs, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar, along with colorful decorations.
In just a few minutes, you can effortlessly transform plain egg whites into delicious and colorful treats.
All that’s left is to follow the procedure to make these colorful homemade meringues. At the end of the recipe, you’ll find not only many variations for making Colored Meringues or Chocolate Glazed Meringues but also How to Make Meringues with the Bimby.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 6/8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 257.81 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 62.94 (g) of which sugars 61.97 (g)
- Proteins 3.32 (g)
- Fat 0.10 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 0.00 (g)
- Sodium 56.83 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites egg whites (approximately 4 egg whites)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 drops lemon juice (3 – 4 drops)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- colored sprinkles (for decoration)
Tools
- 1 Electric mixer
Steps
First, weigh the ingredients: they must all have the same weight, so the same exact quantity of egg whites, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar.
Today, I used 130 g (approximately 4) of egg whites, to which I added 130 g (2/3 cup) of granulated sugar and 130 g (1 cup) of powdered sugar. With this quantity, you can make about 2 trays of meringues. Feel free to halve the amount if you want to make less.
Place the egg whites in a bowl and start whipping them with a stand mixer or electric beaters. After 30 seconds, as the egg whites begin to turn white, add the granulated sugar while the beaters are still running. Continue mixing until the mixture becomes well whipped. Add 3 or 4 drops of lemon juice: this helps stabilize the mixture and keep the meringues whiter during baking. Finally, gradually add the powdered sugar while the beaters are still running. Continue until the mixture becomes a light and well-whipped foam.
At this point, transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a star nozzle and form small meringues directly onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper (mine are about 3/4 inch in diameter). Decorate the meringues with colored sugar sprinkles as desired. Bake in a preheated static oven at 175-195°F for at least 4 hours. To ensure the meringues are ready, break one and taste it: if it’s dry and crispy, your meringues are done.
At the end of baking, let the meringues cool completely before removing them from the tray.
STORAGE
Meringues can be stored in jars or glass containers with lids for a long time due to the high sugar content and oven dehydration. I strongly advise against putting meringues in the fridge or in humid places as they will become soft and gummy. It’s important that the meringues are well-cooked and dry inside so they can be preserved for a long time.
NOTES AND TIPS
EGG WHITES: Use room temperature and very fresh egg whites, as they will whip much better.
SUGAR: This recipe requires both types of sugar (granulated and powdered), but if you don’t have powdered sugar, you can make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a mixer for several seconds until it becomes like powdered sugar.
QUANTITIES: The quantities in this recipe allowed me to prepare 2 trays of meringues, but unlike other recipes, there are no mandatory quantities. The important thing is to maintain the ratio of sugar to egg whites: the sugar (granulated + powdered) should always be double the egg whites. For example, if you have 50 g of egg whites, add 50 g of granulated sugar and 50 g of powdered sugar.
VARIATIONS: Today’s MERINGUE recipe is a basic recipe to which I added colored sprinkles, but you can certainly leave them out and make CLASSIC MERINGUES. Alternatively, for special occasions, you can add a pinch of powdered food coloring to the egg white mixture (when you add the powdered sugar) and bake beautiful COLORED MERINGUES.
If you are a chocolate lover, you can melt some dark chocolate in a bain-marie (or in the microwave) and dip half of the meringue in the melted chocolate, then let them dry on parchment paper for a few minutes. This creates CHOCOLATE-GLAZED MERINGUES. For a less chocolatey version, you can simply decorate the meringues by drizzling chocolate stripes on the surface with melted chocolate in a piping bag.
HOW TO MAKE MERINGUES WITH THE BIMBY
With the Bimby, you can prepare a particularly dense, glossy, and homogeneous meringue mixture. Remember that the oven should be used at a low temperature, between 175 and 195°F. To prepare Meringues with the Bimby, you’ll need: 300 g of granulated sugar, 100 g (approximately 3) of egg whites, and 3 drops (5 g) of lemon juice. BIMBY MERINGUE PROCEDURE: Put the sugar in the bowl and activate for 20 sec. at speed 10. Use a spatula to scrape the mixture down to the bottom, then attach the butterfly whisk and add the egg whites and lemon: activate for 7 minutes at 99°F speed 2. Let cool completely without a lid, which will take about 10 minutes, then activate again for 7 minutes at speed 2. Now the MERINGUE mixture is ready, transfer it to a pastry bag and form the meringues on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Bake the meringues in a preheated static oven at 175°F for about 2 hours.
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