Traditional Meringues
Makes approx 30Nr rounds heaped tablespoon size.
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1tsp lemon juice
1tsp vanilla seeds ( optional )
150g caster sugar ( you can use granualted if you don’t have castor)
Method :
Oven – 90C / Gas 1/4 / 195F
- Put the egg whites, vanilla and lemon juice in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk until the whites have more than doubled in size and can hold peaks.
- Whilst the whisk is still moving fast add the sugar a spoon at a time. Keep whisking until all the sugar is in the whites and the whites are glossy.
- Put baking parchment on baking trays either pipe or spoon the whites into whichever shapes you prefer depending on your use.
- Bake for a minium of few hours ( if the shapes are thin and flat ) up to over night – they are ready when they come off the paper easily and are crisp and not sticky in the middle. I normally just leave mine overnight on about 80C to make sure they are properly dried out!
- These can keep for weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.
There are so many uses for meringues from simple nests , traditional Eton mess, cream shells , a variety of sundaes and other desserts – experiment with different flabour and texture combintaions. They are handy to keep as a go to base for quick and easy desserts, dont throw out any broken ones either as these are great in Eton mess or with ice cream!
NB :
Make sure that the bowl and whisk are very clean and free from grease – any contaminant will stop the whites from reaching peaks properly.
Do not be tempted to turn the oven up as it will brown the merinuges and can make them leaky – they wont look or taste as nice.
Rachel de Caen 