Merry Meringue Day!
Hello, my lovely FList! I just wanted to boast and brag and tell you that I've finally conquered the large (and, originally, quite chalky) mountain that is meringue-making. Woo! *tosses confetti*
In my celebratory haze--think post-coital high--I am inspired to inspire you all to get up and make some meringues of your own! The process, which I had previously both feared and revered, is laughingly simple, once you know what the hell you're doing with that eggy, gritty goo in your bowl.
Preheat your oven to 200°F. Prepare one or more (depending on the size of your meringues, the size of your sheet pans, etc.) sheet pans, covered with parchment paper or a silpat, for your meringues.
Take four egg whites (separate the whites from the yolks, and it is **VERY VERY IMPORTANT!!!**--asterisk-and-bold-face-abusing important--to make sure that you have no yolk in your whites) and one cup of granulated sugar, and, in a stainless steel metal bowl (I used the bowl from my Kitchenaid mixer to cut down on the dishes) over a pot of simmering water*, whisk the whites and sugar until, rubbing some between two fingers, you do not feel any sugary grittiness.
Put your warmed egg whites and sugar, now nice and married together, into your mixer and, with a whisk attachment, whip on high for a good... five, six minutes, until you have stiff peaks. (Basically, you can take your whisk out and flip the meringue over and... the peak doesn't topple over!)
Now comes the fun (or difficult, depending on the person) part: piping! I suppose you could just take spoonfuls of meringue and plop it on a baking sheet and call it a day, but you could also be fancy, and, using a piping bag with whatever piping tip your heart desires, pipe your meringue into droplets, swirls, hearts... the possibilities are endless!
Slip into the oven for a nice, leisurely (read: long) bake.
After a few hours, your meringues will be done baking. (I tested one out--if it's got some crunch, stop baking!) You want them to be hard, and when you poke them, they should not feel very springy or moist. AVOID BROWNING YOUR MERINGUES! It won't be the end of the world if they come out sporting a bit of a tan, but the ideal meringues will be flawlessly snow-white.
If you think you'll be sinking your teeth into a delicious, crunchy but still sort of chewy meringue, fresh out of the oven, think again. (I know, I hate waiting, too!) Let your pretty bundles of light, crisp, sugary delight sit in the oven, the door cracked and the oven off, for a good few hours--overnight, if you can resist. Your patience will be rewarded, I promise!
Once cooled, stored properly--in airtight Tupperware at room temperature, your lovely meringues will keep for a long while! I like them as-is, but you can coat their flat bottoms in some chocolate if you prefer.
You can do loads with meringues--make shells for a lovely pavlova, decorate and color them with food dye to look almost too cute to eat, or even pipe them into cute little hearts! (I want to try the latter next time.) The possibilities are endless. Also, if you don't feel like using regular, from-the-can icing on your naked cake, why not use the meringue for frosting? Because you mixed the egg whites and sugar over the double-boiler before whipping, the eggs were homogenized (or some big word meaning "NO SALMONELLA OR OTHER NASTIES YOU DO NOT WANT") and you can use the light, fluffy mixture without baking! Hurrah!
I hope I've inspired you to try making your own meringues. It's kind of wonderful.
___________________________________________________________________
*: The double-boiler method. All you have to do is bring a little bit of water in a pot (one large enough so your bowl can safely lay on top without touching the water below) to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. You don't want to scramble your eggs; all you're doing is dissolving the sugar and bringing everything to a temperature slightly higher than regular body temperature.
In my celebratory haze--think post-coital high--I am inspired to inspire you all to get up and make some meringues of your own! The process, which I had previously both feared and revered, is laughingly simple, once you know what the hell you're doing with that eggy, gritty goo in your bowl.
Preheat your oven to 200°F. Prepare one or more (depending on the size of your meringues, the size of your sheet pans, etc.) sheet pans, covered with parchment paper or a silpat, for your meringues.
Take four egg whites (separate the whites from the yolks, and it is **VERY VERY IMPORTANT!!!**--asterisk-and-bold-face-abusing important--to make sure that you have no yolk in your whites) and one cup of granulated sugar, and, in a stainless steel metal bowl (I used the bowl from my Kitchenaid mixer to cut down on the dishes) over a pot of simmering water*, whisk the whites and sugar until, rubbing some between two fingers, you do not feel any sugary grittiness.
Put your warmed egg whites and sugar, now nice and married together, into your mixer and, with a whisk attachment, whip on high for a good... five, six minutes, until you have stiff peaks. (Basically, you can take your whisk out and flip the meringue over and... the peak doesn't topple over!)
Now comes the fun (or difficult, depending on the person) part: piping! I suppose you could just take spoonfuls of meringue and plop it on a baking sheet and call it a day, but you could also be fancy, and, using a piping bag with whatever piping tip your heart desires, pipe your meringue into droplets, swirls, hearts... the possibilities are endless!
Slip into the oven for a nice, leisurely (read: long) bake.
After a few hours, your meringues will be done baking. (I tested one out--if it's got some crunch, stop baking!) You want them to be hard, and when you poke them, they should not feel very springy or moist. AVOID BROWNING YOUR MERINGUES! It won't be the end of the world if they come out sporting a bit of a tan, but the ideal meringues will be flawlessly snow-white.
If you think you'll be sinking your teeth into a delicious, crunchy but still sort of chewy meringue, fresh out of the oven, think again. (I know, I hate waiting, too!) Let your pretty bundles of light, crisp, sugary delight sit in the oven, the door cracked and the oven off, for a good few hours--overnight, if you can resist. Your patience will be rewarded, I promise!
Once cooled, stored properly--in airtight Tupperware at room temperature, your lovely meringues will keep for a long while! I like them as-is, but you can coat their flat bottoms in some chocolate if you prefer.
You can do loads with meringues--make shells for a lovely pavlova, decorate and color them with food dye to look almost too cute to eat, or even pipe them into cute little hearts! (I want to try the latter next time.) The possibilities are endless. Also, if you don't feel like using regular, from-the-can icing on your naked cake, why not use the meringue for frosting? Because you mixed the egg whites and sugar over the double-boiler before whipping, the eggs were homogenized (or some big word meaning "NO SALMONELLA OR OTHER NASTIES YOU DO NOT WANT") and you can use the light, fluffy mixture without baking! Hurrah!
I hope I've inspired you to try making your own meringues. It's kind of wonderful.
___________________________________________________________________
*: The double-boiler method. All you have to do is bring a little bit of water in a pot (one large enough so your bowl can safely lay on top without touching the water below) to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. You don't want to scramble your eggs; all you're doing is dissolving the sugar and bringing everything to a temperature slightly higher than regular body temperature.