Meringues are a French favorite of mine. The delicate crunch, that first sweet bite… it’s everything a treat should be.
Meringues are such a festive and special dessert and, in my mind, always take me away to winter, snowflakes, snow caps, and other such fun things. That’s probably why I always think of them before the holidays.
And, please, don’t find them to be intimidating: they are a cinch to whip up in a standing mixer or if you have a handy, light whisk like this new one from JosephJoseph.
{ps. they call it a Whiskle because it doubles as a bowl scraper, making sure you get every last bit of those egg whites and batters out of the bowl and onto the baking sheet).
Tip: You can add hazelnut spread or chocolate sauce to flavor these meringues. Or a fruit jam, if you are not overly fond of chocolate.
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup fine white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 tablespoons chocolate sauce or hazelnut spread (or both)
- Preheat oven to 300F. Separate the egg whites and put them in a large (very clean and dry) bowl. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Keep whisking, and slowly add in the sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time. Make sure it is fully incorporated before adding more. Once all the sugar is added, add the cream of tartar and whisk for another 4-5 minutes until the meringue is stiff and glossy. Scrape down the bowl,
- Line a baking sheet with baking/wax paper. Form meringue spheres of whatever sizes you like on the baking paper. Dot with hazelnut to chocolate sauce, if using, and swirl in with a spatula or a knife.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 250F and bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on the size of your meringues) until crisp to the touch. Turn off the oven, but leave the meringues to cool inside for another 30 minutes.
// JosephJoseph provided products for my consideration.
Meringues are one of those desserts that impress people most, but aren’t technically difficult at all. You just need time and humidity on your side. I love the flavours you’ve chosen for these and your photos are gorgeous.
Thank you so much!
The meringues remind me of my grandmother. She used to make meringues at Christmas but always said you had to make them on a day with very low humidity for them to turn out well.
Quite right! 🙂 Thank you, Karen!