French meringue

French meringue at home is a very tasty and light dessert that can be served on its own, but more often various creams and layers for cakes and desserts are made based on meringue. Meringue is often used to cover Easter cakes.

Meringue is also used to bake meringues and the famous dessert 'Pavlova'. To prepare French meringue deliciously, use this step-by-step recipe with photos.

Time for preparation: 3 hours.

Caloric content: 254 kcal per 100 grams of the dish.

Serves: 6.

Cuisine: French.

Ingredients

• egg whites - 3 pcs. (100 g);
• sugar (fine sand) - 200 g;
• salt - 1 pinch;
• lemon juice - a few drops.

Preparation

Meringue is very easy to prepare, but it is necessary to strictly follow some rules to achieve a successful result.

There are three ways to prepare meringue - French, Italian и Swiss.

French Meringue is egg whites whipped with sugar, the sugar crystals should be fine. Italian Meringue is prepared with hot sugar syrup and whipped egg whites.

Swiss Meringue is where egg whites with sugar are heated in a water bath and whipped at the same time.

Today we will consider the method of preparation French meringue, the most common, simplest, and familiar to many.

1. The first rule is to carefully separate the egg whites from the yolks. The yolk is fat, it will complicate the rise of the white, so not a single drop of yolk should get into the whites. Another very important point is that the eggs should be fresh. Purchased one to three days before preparation. The whites need to be weighed.

2. The second rule is to take twice as much sugar as there are whites.

3. The bowl in which we will whip the French meringue must be clean and dry. To be safe, the bowl can be degreased with lemon juice. Cut a small slice from the lemon and wipe the inner surface of the bowl with it.

4. We put a pinch of salt at the bottom of the bowl. We will whip the whites together with the salt, which will stabilize the whites.

5. We put the egg whites at room temperature into the bowl. There is no point in cooling them in the fridge, warm whites will whip into a denser foam than cold ones. The bowl and the mixer whisk should also be at room temperature. We start whipping the whites at low speeds.

6. Whip the egg whites for one to two minutes until the mixture acquires the structure of 'sea foam'.

7. Now switch the mixer to maximum speed. Whip for another two to three minutes. It is already visible that the mixture has increased in volume several times and has thickened. Soft peaks have formed.

8. While continuing to whip the egg whites at maximum speed, you can add sugar to the bowl 'in a rain'. Do not add all the sugar at once, as this will deflate the egg whites, and it will be nearly impossible to raise them again. Only add sugar in parts and in a thin stream.

9. If desired, for a glossy structure, you can add a few drops of lemon juice to the egg whites. Continue whipping for another couple of minutes.
After adding sugar, the egg white mixture should be whipped for no more than five minutes.

10. The readiness of the meringue is checked very simply. A small amount of the mixture should be rubbed between your fingers; if the sugar has dissolved and is not felt, then it is ready.

11. The egg white mixture should also have stable peaks, and the mixture should remain in the bowl even if it is turned upside down. The meringue is ready. You can continue to work with it as you wish. We will dry the meringue for decoration.

12. You can divide the meringue into several parts and color it using gel-based food coloring.

13. Add a few drops of coloring to the egg white mixture. We control the saturation of the color ourselves.

14. Transfer the meringue into a pastry bag.

15. Pipe onto parchment paper, spacing them apart, as the meringue will 'grow' during baking.

16. Preheat the oven to 80°C, place the baking sheet with the meringue inside to dry. While the meringue is in the oven, do not open the door. The dessert should bake for two and a half to three hours, depending on the size. Sometimes the oven temperature can be set higher, which can shorten the baking time. However, in this case, there is a greater chance that the dessert will crack.

French meringue is ready at home. Ours turned out smooth, without cracks, with a glossy surface. On this basis, you can prepare a large number of different desserts. The main thing is to follow all the rules of preparation.