Grendal
08-24-2011, 08:57 PM
These are italian and much more stable.
For the Egg Whites:
2/3 cup egg whites (4 to 5 whites)
A pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
For the Sugar Syrup:
1-1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
Beat the egg whites at slow speed until the foam throughout, add the salt and cream of tartar, gradually increase the speed to fast, and beat to soft peaks. Turn the machine to slow as you complete the sugar syrup.
Bring the sugar and water to the simmer, swirl the pan to dissolve the sugar completely, cover tightly and boil to the soft-ball stage (234°F to 240°F; 112°C to 116°C on a candy thermometer).
Beating the egg whites at moderately slow speed, dribble into them the boiling syrup — trying to avoid the wires of the whip. Increase speed to moderately fast and beat until cool and the egg whites form stiff, shining, upstanding peaks. The meringue is now ready to use as your recipe directs.
One step italian meringue
3 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup, plus 2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp cold water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Combine the ingredients in a metal bowl. Place over a saucepan of gently simmering water and beat with an electric mixer on low speed, 4 to 5 minutes. Increase speed to high and beat until very thick, about 4 minutes more. Remove bowl from saucepan and beat off the heat until light and fluffy, another 4 minutes.
French
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup white sugar
In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms stiff peaks.
Meringue basics
Use a clean, dry bowl. The bowl must be grease-free, because any trace amount of fat will wreck a meringue. Glass, ceramic, stainless steel, and copper bowls are all suitable. Plastic bowls may appear clean, but may still have trace amounts of oil, so do not use them.
Cold eggs separate easily, but eggs whip to a higher volume when at room temperature. The solution is to separate the cold eggs, and then set them aside for an hour, 2 at the most..
Separate each egg into two small bowls, one for the white and one for the yolk, and then add the white portion to the larger bowl. This allows you to reserve any with broken yolks for another purpose. Even a small amount of yolk can deflate the egg whites, so be careful.
Cream of tartar, white vinegar, or lemon juice can all be used to stabilize a meringue.
Add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar per egg white to the unbeaten eggs. (If you're using a copper bowl to make your meringue, don't add any acid: it can react with the copper and discolor the egg foam.)
Whip to medium-soft peaks. Beat in 2 tablespoons white sugar per egg white. Continue to beat until egg whites are glossy and hold a firm peak.
Adding sugar early in the beating process results in a firmer, finer-textured meringue.
Pasteurizing egg whites is not a concern when preparing a meringue that is going to be baked longer than ten minutes in a moderate oven (350 degrees F/175 degrees C).
For buttercream frostings, baked Alaskas, or meringue pies, however, the egg whites should reach at least 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) for safety's sake. Some supermarkets sell pre-pasteurized egg whites; these require a much longer whipping time to reach the desired volume for a meringue.
Italian Meringues
Italian meringues are made with a sugar syrup. Sugar and water are boiled to the soft-ball stage (240 degrees F/115 degrees C) and carefully poured in a thin stream into a mixer bowl of whipped egg whites. The mixture is whipped until cool. Because of the constant whipping, the bowl cools quickly, and the egg whites may not reach pasteurization temperature; you can use an instant read thermometer to check the meringue's temperature after the first minute or so of whipping.
Swiss Meringues
Swiss meringues are made by combining sugar and egg whites and heating them over a double boiler.
To prepare a Swiss meringue, whisk the sugar and egg whites enough to break up the whites, but not so vigorously that they form an airy foam.
The sugar will melt and act as a protective shield against coagulation of the egg whites; heat and whisk constantly until the temperature of the whites reaches 145 degrees F or hotter.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and beat the warm egg whites until they form stiff, glossy peaks.
Beading, weeping, and shrinking are common complaints. Overcooking causes beading, the formation of water droplets on the surface. Weeping--loss of water between the meringue and the pie filling--is caused by undercooking. Shrinking is a loss of volume during baking.
A never-fail method for producing the perfect meringue is one that uses a cornstarch and water mixture to form a gel: beaten gradually into a meringue, the thickener will prevent shrinking problems.
Spread meringue over piping hot filling, and spread to the edges to seal. Hot filling is necessary to ensure that the inside of the meringue cooks, preventing weeping. Swiss or Italian meringues, since they are already cooked, are less prone to shrinking and weeping.
Fine cake crumbs, vanilla wafer crumbs, or soft white bread crumbs sprinkled lightly over the filling will absorb liquid between the layers, another preventative against weeping.
Bake your meringue pie at a high temperature with a short baking time. This prevents overcooking the outer layer of meringue, so beading is avoided. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 4 to 5 minutes.
First off, make sure you are using LG or XLG eggs. Second, thewhites MUST be room temperature to whip up high. Third, if you are using a handmixer instead of a traditional Stand mixer, it will take longer to beat.
Hope this helps...holidays just around the corner.
For the Egg Whites:
2/3 cup egg whites (4 to 5 whites)
A pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
For the Sugar Syrup:
1-1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
Beat the egg whites at slow speed until the foam throughout, add the salt and cream of tartar, gradually increase the speed to fast, and beat to soft peaks. Turn the machine to slow as you complete the sugar syrup.
Bring the sugar and water to the simmer, swirl the pan to dissolve the sugar completely, cover tightly and boil to the soft-ball stage (234°F to 240°F; 112°C to 116°C on a candy thermometer).
Beating the egg whites at moderately slow speed, dribble into them the boiling syrup — trying to avoid the wires of the whip. Increase speed to moderately fast and beat until cool and the egg whites form stiff, shining, upstanding peaks. The meringue is now ready to use as your recipe directs.
One step italian meringue
3 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup, plus 2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp cold water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Combine the ingredients in a metal bowl. Place over a saucepan of gently simmering water and beat with an electric mixer on low speed, 4 to 5 minutes. Increase speed to high and beat until very thick, about 4 minutes more. Remove bowl from saucepan and beat off the heat until light and fluffy, another 4 minutes.
French
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup white sugar
In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms stiff peaks.
Meringue basics
Use a clean, dry bowl. The bowl must be grease-free, because any trace amount of fat will wreck a meringue. Glass, ceramic, stainless steel, and copper bowls are all suitable. Plastic bowls may appear clean, but may still have trace amounts of oil, so do not use them.
Cold eggs separate easily, but eggs whip to a higher volume when at room temperature. The solution is to separate the cold eggs, and then set them aside for an hour, 2 at the most..
Separate each egg into two small bowls, one for the white and one for the yolk, and then add the white portion to the larger bowl. This allows you to reserve any with broken yolks for another purpose. Even a small amount of yolk can deflate the egg whites, so be careful.
Cream of tartar, white vinegar, or lemon juice can all be used to stabilize a meringue.
Add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar per egg white to the unbeaten eggs. (If you're using a copper bowl to make your meringue, don't add any acid: it can react with the copper and discolor the egg foam.)
Whip to medium-soft peaks. Beat in 2 tablespoons white sugar per egg white. Continue to beat until egg whites are glossy and hold a firm peak.
Adding sugar early in the beating process results in a firmer, finer-textured meringue.
Pasteurizing egg whites is not a concern when preparing a meringue that is going to be baked longer than ten minutes in a moderate oven (350 degrees F/175 degrees C).
For buttercream frostings, baked Alaskas, or meringue pies, however, the egg whites should reach at least 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) for safety's sake. Some supermarkets sell pre-pasteurized egg whites; these require a much longer whipping time to reach the desired volume for a meringue.
Italian Meringues
Italian meringues are made with a sugar syrup. Sugar and water are boiled to the soft-ball stage (240 degrees F/115 degrees C) and carefully poured in a thin stream into a mixer bowl of whipped egg whites. The mixture is whipped until cool. Because of the constant whipping, the bowl cools quickly, and the egg whites may not reach pasteurization temperature; you can use an instant read thermometer to check the meringue's temperature after the first minute or so of whipping.
Swiss Meringues
Swiss meringues are made by combining sugar and egg whites and heating them over a double boiler.
To prepare a Swiss meringue, whisk the sugar and egg whites enough to break up the whites, but not so vigorously that they form an airy foam.
The sugar will melt and act as a protective shield against coagulation of the egg whites; heat and whisk constantly until the temperature of the whites reaches 145 degrees F or hotter.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and beat the warm egg whites until they form stiff, glossy peaks.
Beading, weeping, and shrinking are common complaints. Overcooking causes beading, the formation of water droplets on the surface. Weeping--loss of water between the meringue and the pie filling--is caused by undercooking. Shrinking is a loss of volume during baking.
A never-fail method for producing the perfect meringue is one that uses a cornstarch and water mixture to form a gel: beaten gradually into a meringue, the thickener will prevent shrinking problems.
Spread meringue over piping hot filling, and spread to the edges to seal. Hot filling is necessary to ensure that the inside of the meringue cooks, preventing weeping. Swiss or Italian meringues, since they are already cooked, are less prone to shrinking and weeping.
Fine cake crumbs, vanilla wafer crumbs, or soft white bread crumbs sprinkled lightly over the filling will absorb liquid between the layers, another preventative against weeping.
Bake your meringue pie at a high temperature with a short baking time. This prevents overcooking the outer layer of meringue, so beading is avoided. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 4 to 5 minutes.
First off, make sure you are using LG or XLG eggs. Second, thewhites MUST be room temperature to whip up high. Third, if you are using a handmixer instead of a traditional Stand mixer, it will take longer to beat.
Hope this helps...holidays just around the corner.