Bake meringue. Meringues: all recipes in one place. Airy dessert with nuts

Baked sweet chicken proteins are called meringues, literally from the French word meringue. There is a legend that the authorship of this delicacy belongs to the Swiss pastry chef Gasparini, who lived in the town of Meiringen. Others associate the appearance of these small airy cakes with the time of the Polish king Stanislav Leszczynski. His cook adopted the recipe from the French and prepared airy cakes based on meringue - vacherins.

Today, many people confuse meringue with meringue. However, these are completely different dishes. The meringue is only the base for the cakes, which are later baked at the lowest possible temperature in the oven for several hours and become meringue. Meringue is also used to create creams, layers, souffles, and decorate cakes, waffles, and pastries.

Italian meringue, the step-by-step recipe for which is quite simple, consists of whipped egg whites to which hot sugar syrup is gradually added. Typically, the temperature of this syrup is at 118 degrees, due to which Italian meringue is considered the most stable and dense. This is achieved by folding proteins. It is customary to make cupcakes, butter creams, tops for pies, muffins and cupcakes with the Italian mixture.

The recipe is very simple, since it contains only 3 components:

2 chicken egg whites;
40 grams of water;
150 grams of white sugar.

Italian meringue is much easier to prepare than, for example, Swiss meringue, which is boiled in a water bath. You can also make Italian meringue faster by adding hot syrup.

Before preparing the meringue, make the sugar syrup:

Pour water into a saucepan and add sugar, but not all of it, but only 100 grams. At this stage, you can add any flavorings to the meringue; the composition can also be diversified with dyes. If you need meringue cakes in bright colors, for colored meringue you need to use liquid, definitely food coloring; it is best to use gel coloring.
Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture for about 6 minutes. It is ideal when the syrup reaches 110 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer in your kitchen, test a soft ball. To do this, drop a little syrup into a cup of cold water, then squeeze the ball between your fingers and roll it out. If the mass is soft, the syrup can be removed from the heat.
Before preparing meringues, you definitely need to learn how to beat egg whites efficiently. Wipe the dishes with a clean napkin, separate the whites so that the yolks do not get into them. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until it becomes cloudy and foam appears.
Gradually increasing the speed, carefully add the remaining sugar. It is important to achieve a dense, stable foam. For such airy meringues, the whites must be soft, this is also called soft peaks, that is, the raised peak should fall to the side.
Continuing to beat the mixture, pour in hot, but not boiling, sugar syrup in a thin stream. Pour the syrup directly onto the whisk, as if it gets on the cold sides of the pan it can quickly caramelize.
When you use all the syrup (pour into the whites) according to the recipe, you need to beat the mixture for about 7 minutes.
Before baking the cakes, transfer the mixture into a pastry bag with a fluted tip, then dry in the oven on parchment at 110 degrees for two or more hours depending on the size of the meringue; the meringue is also suitable for eating fresh. It is used to decorate muffins, muffins, cupcakes and other baked goods. Meringues and meringues with such a base turn out dense, soft, and hold their shape well.

Swiss

Swiss meringue is prepared in a water bath and has a slightly different composition. Swiss meringue cream is ideally combined with butter, forming a dense butter cream, and also for layering cakes, for example, in the Pavlova dessert for short layers. Here, when baked, the cake turns out soft and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Swiss meringue can not be baked, but served fresh as a decoration.

Swiss meringue cream is prepared from the following ingredients:

2 egg whites;
120 grams of white sugar.

No water is required for Swiss meringue, just like any other liquid. The composition contains only 2 main ingredients, so there is a difference in structure with other options and in the final taste. Immediately begin to beat the egg whites and sugar:

Separate 2 whites into a clean, dried container and immediately add the entire portion of sugar to it.
Stir the mixture using a whisk or regular fork until both components are combined.
Make a water bath, place the egg whites and sugar in it and heat to a temperature of about 60 degrees, maximum 75. It is very important to use a kitchen thermometer when preparing Swiss meringue buttercream, since it is very difficult to determine the temperature by eye.
Continuously stir the whites until all the sugar crystals dissolve and the whites become cloudy. Start beating with a mixer at low speed, after half a minute increase the speed and beat until you get an airy, smooth foam.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately place it in a bowl of cold water to allow the mixture to cool as quickly as possible. You can simply pour it into a chilled bowl and whisk vigorously.
Turn the mixer on at high speed and beat the meringue for about 6 more minutes.

Now you can transfer the whipped whites into a pastry bag or use the mixture to decorate pastries or cakes, and also bake the meringues in the oven at low temperature until they become cakes. The ideal whipped meringue is dense, soft, but not too porous. Swiss meringue is perfect for cupcakes, pastries, and other desserts.

French

Classic French meringue is the easiest to prepare, since the entire composition consists of proteins and sugar, which are simply whipped in a bowl until fluffy. It is from this mixture that various meringue cakes, cake layers, custard or butter are subsequently made. In addition, such a mixture can be baked in the oven, in which case it produces delicious cakes familiar from childhood.

Ingredients for a simple meringue mixture:

110 grams of sugar;
2 egg whites.

Since this type of meringue is the easiest to prepare correctly, we advise you to start getting acquainted with this airy delicacy with it:

Pour very cold egg whites into a clean, dry, chilled bowl. To make the whites whip better, you can add a small pinch of salt if desired.
Start beating the whites at the lowest speed of the mixer, gradually increasing the speed. When foam appears, you can add a few drops of fresh lemon juice.
After about 3 minutes of beating, we begin to add one tablespoon of sugar at a time, gradually introducing the entire portion. In total, you should whisk the mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved and the peaks are firm but fluffy.
To make a cake from the mixture, heat the oven to a temperature no higher than 110 degrees, transfer the mixture from the syringe to parchment, listen so that it does not turn brown.

Such meringues can also be colored with food coloring, added flavorings, cocoa powder, and so on. In its raw form, you can use this recipe to make cakes, shortcakes, cupcakes, muffins and decorate baked goods.

Oily

Butter meringue, or Swiss Meringue Buttercream, is a type of Swiss meringue, but is prepared with the addition of butter. This meringue recipe is very easy to make at home, despite the difficult-to-pronounce name.

You will need:

450 grams of sugar;
8 proteins;
1 pinch of salt;
600 grams of butter.

Before making this type of meringue, chill the eggs; On the contrary, bring the oil to room temperature. Let's get started:

Separate the whites, slightly cooled, from the yolks, pour into a dry bowl, stir with a whisk (fork).
Add one pinch of salt. Add sugar, stir, place in a water bath over low heat, whisk until the sugar crystals dissolve.
Remove the bowl from the heat and wait for the mixture to cool slightly. Beat the egg whites vigorously until stiff peaks form. Chop the butter at room temperature into pieces and add to the cream. Beat it with a mixer until fluffy.
If you want to get multi-colored meringue based on this recipe, add dye either to the ready-made cream, or at the stage of mixing sugar with egg whites.

This cream can be considered universal - it is very dense, holds its shape well, can be frozen, combined with flavors, dyes, and also with nuts or cocoa powder. It can even be stored in the freezer, and before decorating, you need to quickly defrost it and beat it again with a mixer, and then bake or decorate the finished pastries or desserts.

Chocolate

Meringue with chocolate is prepared according to a more complex recipe than the usual versions of the cream. For real chocolate meringues you will need the following products:

3 eggs;
a quarter teaspoon of salt;
120 grams of dark chocolate without fillers;
3 tablespoons cocoa powder;
1 tablespoon cornstarch;
150 grams of sugar.

The final taste of the cake depends on how much and what kind of chocolate you add to the mixture. You can also use white or milk chocolate, but traditionally bitter black chocolate with minimal sugar content is used. Let's start cooking:

Chop the chocolate in a blender or with a knife.
Mix starch and sugar separately.
Add cold whites into a chilled bowl and beat until they form a stable, fluffy foam.
Gradually add the sugar and starch mixture one spoon at a time. Continue whisking.
When the mixture becomes fluffy and glossy, add cocoa powder through a sieve. Stir the mixture with a spatula and add chocolate chips while kneading.
Bake the cakes on a baking sheet lined with parchment for 35-40 minutes at a temperature of 150 degrees maximum.

Coffee meringues are prepared using the same principle, only instant coffee is added instead of chocolate. After baking, the chocolate meringue should cool at room temperature for about 20 minutes, then serve.

Custard

Essentially, custard meringue is an Italian custard protein cream. It is very dense, perfectly takes a given shape, so it is used both for decorating small baked goods and for layering cake layers in cakes and desserts.

You will need 4 main ingredients:

140 grams of sugar;
2 egg whites;
1 packet of vanilla sugar;
50 grams of plain water.

Preparing this version of meringue is not difficult at all:

Mix sugar with water, put on fire and, stirring, bring to a boil. When the temperature rises to 120 degrees or you test for a “medium ball,” remove the fire container. On average, the process takes up to 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat the chilled whites into a very stable, strong foam with vanilla sugar.
Add boiling sugar syrup into the beaten egg whites in a thin stream. At the end you can add a couple of drops of lemon juice. In total, the mixture must be beaten for about 8 minutes.

This meringue is called custard because the boiling syrup quickly coagulates the protein, making this cream dense, soft and very stable.

Walnut

Sometimes nut meringues are called “Dacquoise” and amazing desserts with berries and cheese and cream filling are prepared on their basis. You can also try making such a dessert to surprise your guests and family.

To prepare it you will need the following products:

3 squirrels;
100 grams of any nuts;
100 grams of sugar.

Walnut cake is prepared on the basis of ordinary French meringue in a classic design, to which ground and pre-roasted nuts are added. If you don't like too much of a nutty flavor, you can add about 20 grams of sugar.

After preparation, the mixture is transferred to a pastry bag, small cakes or large cakes are squeezed out on parchment, baked for 30 minutes at a temperature of 150 degrees. You should not overdry them; they should remain soft inside.

Multicolored

These are best obtained from a Swiss recipe. You will also need pastry bags according to the number of shades of cream, liquid food coloring in the selected colors.

The step-by-step process is as follows:

Make the meringue as directed in the recipe.
Divide the mixture into as many parts as you plan to make shades. In our case - into 3 parts. The dishes must be dry and clean.
Add a little food coloring to each portion of the cream and gently stir with a spatula until the color is even.
Transfer the mixture into separate piping bags with the tips cut off and no tip attached. Tie the bags tightly at the top.
Now carefully place all three bags vertically in a large M-size bag with a wide, flat or embossed nozzle.

When you pipe the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, you'll end up with three rainbow-colored brownies. You can use absolutely any shades. The cakes are dried in the oven at 100 degrees for 60 minutes, and then cooled for another hour with the door open.

Cooking secrets

It would seem that there are very few ingredients in the recipe, a simple method of preparation, but meringues do not always turn out the way you would like. To ensure that the result always pleases you, follow these simple tips:

whisks and whipping containers should not contain a drop of fat or moisture, since these components greatly affect the stability of the meringue and disrupt its structure;
some advise beating the whites warm, but the ideal temperature is 10-20 degrees;
Sugar for cooking should be finely crystalline; it can be replaced with powdered sugar or ground with a blender, which will give the product an airy structure;
always start beating the whites at the minimum speed of the mixer, gradually increasing it;
Always add sugar one teaspoon at a time, without ceasing to beat;
the stiffer the peaks in the process of whipping egg whites, the drier and more stable the product will be; accordingly, the softer the foam, the lighter the cake or cream will be;
For many, baking meringue is difficult, since the product must be dried in the oven at a minimum temperature for at least 1 hour, without forming a golden brown crust, without cracking, or crumbling.

The ideal meringue is soft enough inside, has no cracks on the surface, remains snow-white or has the color of the dye you added to the mixture.

Shelf life

Rarely does it occur to anyone to store meringue for a long time. This charming, fluffy dessert is usually the first to disappear from the plates. However, if there is a need for storage, follow the rules:

in an airtight package, the baked cake can be stored for up to 7 days;
do not store them in the refrigerator, as there they will instantly become damp, soft and tasteless;
some types can be stored in the freezer, after packing tightly in a pastry bag.

Due to the small amount of moisture in the meringue, they can be stored for quite a long time without refrigeration at normal room temperature. The main thing is to maintain maximum dryness and lack of moisture. The ideal place to store meringue is in special paper boxes or airtight containers.

What are we having for tea? Today we have an incomparable French dessert for tea - meringues. Surely you have tried this fragile and at the same time tender white delicacy, made from whipped chicken whites and sugar, and then dried in the oven. Meringue itself is a complex dessert dish that requires strict adherence to all cooking rules. I will try to describe in detail how to properly prepare one of the variations of French meringue.

To prepare meringue in the oven, we take products from our list. The classic out-of-home version uses chicken whites and sugar to make meringue. I will also use powdered sugar. With a hand mixer it is not always possible to bring the whites and sugar to the desired hard peaks. With powder everything is much simpler.

Important! Chicken whites should be at room temperature. It is most convenient to separate the whites from the yolks using eggshells. The yolk should not fall into the bowl, otherwise your protein mass will not have the desired consistency of protein cream.

Place the blades of a hand mixer into the bowl of egg whites. Let's start beating at low speeds, gradually increasing the rotation speed.

I always beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt. This way the mass turns out more magnificent.

When the whites turn into foam, add vanillin. Beating time for egg whites is a little over 2 minutes.

Now sugar. Switch the mixer to slow mode and begin adding sugar. I add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. During the beating process, the sugar should dissolve. Once all the sugar has fallen into the bowl, increase the mixer speed to maximum.

The mass will increase in volume three to four times and will look like fluffy cream, but without hard peaks yet.

Add powdered sugar. The powder can be poured out all at once. We do not turn off the mixer, but continue beating the meringue.

Don't miss the moment when hard (sharp) peaks appear - this is the common name for protein cream suitable for making meringue in the oven. Pull the mixer blades. If the shiny and elastic mass stretches behind the mixer, leaving a sharp edge, and holds its shape perfectly without dripping from the blades - everything is ready! You need to stop here in time. Overbeaten egg whites will look like cotton wool and will begin to coagulate, releasing moisture.

Place the finished protein mass into a pastry bag. You can use a thick plastic bag with a cut corner. The baking tray must be covered with a dry sheet of baking paper. There is no need to lubricate anything. We place the cream on parchment, giving the meringue the desired shape of flowers, domes, etc. You can deposit the protein mass on a baking sheet using a regular spoon.

We send future meringues to the oven to “dry” for 2 hours. Heating temperature - 80°C. If your oven is too gentle, increase the heat to 100°C, while not forgetting to check the readiness of the meringue.

Important. Do not open the oven during the drying process!

Meringues are ready! Turn off the stove. Keep the dessert inside until it cools completely.

The finished meringues come off the baking sheet in a matter of seconds, leaving virtually no traces of protein. They are white in color with a slight milky tint.

This is such a cute dessert - meringues. Crispy on top and very tender on the inside.

Cooking time: 2 hours 20 minutes Servings: 50

A wonderful dessert with a French name that translates as “kiss”. Melting on the lips, sweet, tender. Of course, it's meringue or meringue! Want to learn how to cook it at home? It is not difficult:)

A lot of yolks go into the Easter dough, but the whites remain “out of use.” Do you also have a lot of egg whites left after preparing the pasochki? Now we will find a use for them! And very tasty: let’s make real meringue at home! Light, airy, with a crispy thin crust and a crumbly center.

I usually used the leftover egg whites to make an omelette or chiffon cake. But at the same time, I have long dreamed of learning how to make homemade meringue. I even tried to bake cakes for the Kyiv cake once, but due to non-compliance with the temperature conditions, the result was not a white light meringue, but a golden sweet toffee. But the second time I finally learned! And I learned all the nuances, which I will now share with you, so that the meringue succeeds the first time!

The main thing for success: beat the whites correctly - once, and maintain the baking mode - twice. I cook in a gas oven, but I think the recipe would be suitable for an electric one - you just may need to adjust the baking time.

Ingredients:

For 45-50 pieces:

3 egg whites (total weight about 100 g);
150 g sugar;
A pinch of salt;
A pinch of citric acid.

Homemade meringue: recipe in the oven

Meringue secret #1 - Fresh eggs!

The first thing we need is fresh eggs. The most recent! Because it is the freshest whites that whip better: they are denser, more elastic, and the foam from them holds its shape well. And from old proteins the foam is not so stable. How can you tell if an egg is fresh? Carefully break it onto a saucer and look: the old white is spreading; for fresh ones, lie around the yolk in an elastic oval.

Trick number 2 - how to separate the whites from the yolks

Previously, I poured from one half of the shell to the other - the white poured down into the bowl, and the yolk remained in the shell. But this method is not the best, since sometimes the sharp edge of the shell can damage the yolk, and if even a little gets into the whites, they will not whip up properly. Therefore, it is much more convenient to pour the egg into your hand: the yolk remains intact in the palm, and the white is poured into the bowl through your fingers.

And also, break each egg over a separate bowl: if you suddenly get a stale one, you don’t need to replace all the whites.

Know-how No. 3 - proportions and composition

Now let's figure out how much sugar we need. For 1 white of a medium egg, take 50-60 g of sugar. For 3 proteins - 150-180 g, respectively.

For an excellent meringue, in addition to proteins and sugar, you will need a few more grains of citric acid and a pinch of salt: these additives improve whipping, add stability to the foam, and the acid slightly brightens.

Please note: the result depends not only on the correctly selected products, but also on the condition of the dishes. Both the container in which you beat and the whisks should be clean, dry and not greasy. Therefore, wash them thoroughly, wipe with a lemon wedge and wipe dry. And you can start!

Important point No. 5 - egg temperature

There is an opinion that it is necessary to beat chilled egg whites. This is not entirely true. When chilled they whip up faster, but when warm they whip up better! From the physics course we know that when cold, substances compress, and when warm, they expand. So, in cold proteins, the bonds between molecules are less extensible, so they cannot accommodate many air bubbles that form foam. They whipped it up quickly and that was it. And then they settled down just as quickly. And although warm whites need to be whipped a little longer, the molecular bonds in them are more elastic and can hold much more air, and are more stable. Therefore, we take the whites out of the refrigerator half an hour in advance so that they warm up to room temperature.

Making homemade meringue:

Add a pinch of salt to the whites and beat at low speed for 2 minutes. At first, the mass will be translucent, foamy, with bubbles, as if in champagne; then it will gradually turn white and thicken - and now you have a light, but quite thick foam, on which traces of the corollas remain. It's time to slowly add sugar.

But we don’t drink all at once! Add sugar 1-2 teaspoons at a time, whisking constantly. Along with the first spoon of sugar, add a few citric acid crystals.

I add sugar 1-2 spoons every 15-10 seconds. It takes 6-7 minutes to introduce all the sugar. Gradually increase the beating speed from low to medium and then to maximum. After adding all the sugar, beat for another 1.5-2 minutes at high speed. The foam is getting thicker.

It is enough to beat when it reaches the condition of “hard peaks”: take out the mixer and look at the “snowy peaks” - do they rise proudly and do not bend? Great! Control check: turn the bowl over :) A well-beaten mass not only won’t fall out, it won’t even move!

Cover the baking sheet with parchment, grease with butter or vegetable oil - a little. Place the mixture in a pastry bag with a nozzle or simply cut off a corner and place it on a sheet of benzene. You can put it out with a spoon dipped in water, but with an attachment the cakes come out with a more beautiful shape. Place them 3-4 cm from each other - in the process the meringue spreads a little and becomes larger. You can make many small cakes or one large cake layer.

If you have a culinary syringe with attachments, use it to form the meringues. It turns out beautiful!

Place the meringue in the oven, preheated to 110C, in the middle, and bake. By the way, it is more correct to call the raw protein mass meringue, but when baked it is already meringues.

At what temperature should you bake meringues in the oven?

In order for the meringue to turn out the way you want - dry and light - you need a fairly low temperature. In fact, it is not baked, but dried. Therefore, the temperature in the oven can fluctuate between 100 - 120C.

You should not exceed the threshold of 120C, since the high temperature melts the sugar in the meringue, forming that same caramel toffee of a golden-amber hue. This meringue stretches and sticks to your teeth like chewing gum :)

So the optimal temperature would be 110C.

How long to bake meringue in the oven

At this temperature, the meringue dried in my oven for 2 hours. For different ovens and depending on the size of the bezes, the time can vary from 1.5 to 2 or a little more hours.

How to check if meringue is ready?

First, touch gently: the surface of the finished meringue is not sticky or soft, it is dry and does not leave marks on it. Tap the meringue with your finger: if it is dry enough, you will hear a dull rustling sound. The color changes from white to light beige. You can break one piece and see if the middle is dry or still wet.

Leave the finished meringues in the switched off oven until they cool completely. Then remove and place on a wire rack. Or on a platter.

Airy, like a white cloud, tender, like a kiss, a delicacy for a cup of morning coffee... and most importantly, homemade meringue made with your own hands is awesome!

You can eat the cakes just like that, or you can decorate cakes or Easter cakes with them.

When I got the book Catherine Gordon and Anna McBride “Les petit macarons”- another book about macaroons, I had no idea that it would inspire me to new culinary experiments. The book describes three methods of making cookies and slightly different proportions of ingredients (by the way, more classic) than I have used recently. In short, I couldn’t wait to cook all three types of macarons and compare the results.

In addition, I finally decided to take step-by-step photographs (after several requests and because it’s better once.. then you know), but in my, although large, but not the brightest kitchen, it has not become lighter, step-by-step photographs will be small

The book uses dry egg white(5 g per serving below) and cream of tartar in French meringue. I also bought dried protein for Adriano Zumbo macarons and used it several times, but I didn’t notice much of a difference during baking or after, so I didn’t use it this time. The same goes for aged egg whites and cream of tartar - I personally don’t think they are necessary for macarons. I found an interesting take on salt, which I really like to add to proteins, from McGee.

This book has a very interesting approach to baking time.

Baking time

Little ones macaroons (1 cm in diameter) 105 degrees 15 minutes + 175 degrees 6 minutes

Average(3 cm) 105 degrees 15 minutes + 175 degrees 9 minutes

More e (6 cm) 105 degrees 15 minutes + 175 degrees 9 minutes + 150 degrees 8 minutes

This baking method allows you not to “dry out” the macarons, they are dried already in the oven (ideal for days with high humidity), but it is important that the temperature is no more than 105 degrees, otherwise the macarons will crack

Thick cast iron and steel pans For baking, macarons are best suited, but aluminum and thin steel ones often dry them out, or macarons turn out hollow.

Macarons based on French meringue

Ingredients

165 g almond flour

165 g powdered sugar

A pinch of salt

Dye

Preparation:

Mix powder, salt and almond flour in a food processor or blender with large blades.

Sift through a medium sieve into a bowl (about half a tablespoon of large almond particles remains - these can be discarded), if more, return to blender

Prepare the meringue:

Pour chicken protein into a mixing bowl
Beat on low speed to add air.
If necessary, add acid and/or egg powder (white only)
Increase speed to medium
When the whites have reached the soft peak stage, add the sugar in a thin stream (adding sugar at this stage will ensure volume is achieved)
Beat until stiff peaks form (the more sugar added, the longer it will take to beat)

Mix the meringue with a spatula with the sugar-almond mixture, stir with a spatula until the dough reaches the desired consistency (if you lift the spatula, the dough evenly “drains” from it in an unbroken stream).

If during the mixing process (after all the dry ingredients have been mixed into the meringue, but the mixture has not yet reached the desired consistency), you leave it for 1-2 minutes, this dough will be easier to work with in the future - the almonds take up moisture and after final kneading the dough will be more homogeneous and easier to work with.

Perhaps this method does not always work, because I came to it purely through experience (once while making macarons I had to answer an important work call), the mixture was left unmixed for a few minutes, after which I returned to stirring; The dough turned out not liquid and not too thick. Since then, I deliberately leave it to “rest” for a while.

Then pour the dough into a piping bag fitted with a straight tip. I use a nozzle with a diameter of 8 mm for macarons, which after baking are 3-4 cm

Place the macarons on paper or a mat (I have a professional mat with a mesh, but I use paper because I usually bake 70 macarons, and there is only one mat; besides, it needs to be washed after use, and you can simply throw away the paper. By the way, in the bakery we use the paper again after baking).

Bake either as above or at 150 degrees for 15 minutes (if the macarons are well dried).

I find it easier to dry the macarons at room temperature and bake them at the same temperature than to constantly raise and lower it.

Remove the baked macarons from the baking sheet and leave to cool on paper.

After the halves have cooled, remove them from the paper.

Macarons with Italian meringue

Ingredients(makes 70 halves with a diameter of 3 cm)

165 g almond flour

165 g powdered sugar

A pinch of salt

150 g fine crystalline sugar

57 ml water

115 g protein (4 eggs required)

Dye

Preparation of meringue:

Combine water and sugar in a thick-bottomed saucepan (this type of pan will ensure the most even heating)
Bring to a boil without stirring
If sugar crystals appear on the walls and do not dissolve in water, brush them with a pastry brush dipped in water.
Start beating the egg whites at medium speed.
Increase heat to medium
Place a thermometer into the mixture and when the syrup reaches 114 degrees Celsius (the proteins should reach soft peaks at this time)
Gradually add hot syrup to the whites, along the side, being careful not to get it on the whisk (otherwise the syrup will splatter)
Beat to desired stage
“Set” the meringue by beating at high speed for a few seconds.

Macarons with Swiss meringue

Ingredients(makes 70 halves with a diameter of 3 cm)

165 g almond flour

165 g powdered sugar

A pinch of salt

150 g fine crystalline sugar

115 g protein (4 eggs required)

Dye

Prepare and sift a mixture of caster sugar, salt and almond flour.

Preparation of meringue:

Mix the egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl and place in a steam bath (so that the bottom does not touch the water)
Whisk slowly until the mixture reaches 54 degrees Celsius.
Remove the bowl from the bath (if the egg whites are poured into another bowl for whipping, it should also be hot)
Beat on low speed and when the mixture has increased in volume, increase the speed to medium.
The bowl must cool completely while beating.

Bake, remove from sheet pan after cooling.

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For those who decide to repeat macarons using different types of meringue, I have prepared a table:

Notes:

The mixing bowl should be dry and clean: Whipped whites have two main enemies - fat (including that contained in the yolk) and dishwashing liquid. A small amount of both will not stop the egg white from whipping, but will make the process much longer and the result more unpredictable.
Acid, added before or immediately after the start of whipping (cream of tartar, lemon juice), makes the whipped whites more stable (this method is used for French meringue)
And here salt, in some books it is recommended to be added to make whipped whites more stable, according to Harold McGee, on the contrary, it makes it less stable (he advises adding it to other ingredients, not to whites)

Overall, I liked all 3 types of meringue,

Personally I use French for small batches so as not to waste time preparing syrup,

Italian for preparing dough from 70 halves or more (the syrup is ideal here, since it is already dissolved, so it is distributed evenly),

The same advantages Swiss meringues, plus you don’t need to boil the syrup, but Swiss meringue is denser than French and Italian, so you need to knead the dough to the desired consistency longer.

There is another way to prepare macarons - without meringue at all, I am going to try it, and if the results are successful, I will tell you how to do it.

And on the weekend I’ll tell you about the amazing cream for the filling and its seasonal variations.

To those who have mastered this text, I wish you a great weekend and successful experiments in the kitchen!

Meringue is a delicious and light delicacy that is prepared exclusively from fresh chicken egg whites and granulated sugar. This dessert is considered a classic and can be used as an independent sweet dish. But besides this, the composition may additionally include pieces of crushed nuts, lemon juice or zest, as well as other types of flavoring additives.

It is worth noting that such a dessert can be smeared with jam or buttercream, and then the two halves can be combined to get an unusual airy cake. Meringue is also used to create delicious cakes. There are many options for how to prepare meringue, following simple recipes with photos, in the oven. We will describe only the simplest and most delicious of them.

Classic cooking option

Ingredients:

chicken eggs - 4 pieces;
granulated sugar – 165 grams.

Preparation:

This delicacy will please everyone at home; it is very easy to prepare, and after baking, the finished cakes simply melt in your mouth. You can serve dessert with tea or coffee.

It’s worth mentioning right away that before whipping the mass, you need to warm up the oven to one hundred degrees, this is quite enough for the meringues to cook correctly. It is important to cover the baking sheet with parchment, otherwise the finished treats will be extremely difficult to remove from its surface.

To begin with, you should take chicken whites, they are pre-cooled, it is very important that not a single drop of yolk gets into the protein mass. Beat the egg whites with a mixer at high speed to get the most fluffy mass, and then granulated sugar is added to this foam.

The mixture is beaten until the sugar grains are completely dispersed and the mixture itself acquires a beautiful glossy shine. If you want to get multi-colored meringue, then the necessary dyes are added to the mass.

Place meringue on a prepared baking sheet; the easiest way to do this is with a spoon, but you can also use a pastry bag.

The airiness and lightness of the delicacy lies in the fact that this dessert is baked at a very low temperature for one and a half hours. Below we will describe additional interesting options for preparing meringue, according to simple recipes with photos, in the oven.

Airy dessert with nuts

Ingredients:

granulated sugar - 255 grams;
crushed walnuts - 215 grams;
chicken proteins - 5 pieces.

Preparation:

First, you should prepare the nuts if they are not yet ready to use. To do this, they are peeled, finely chopped with a knife and lightly fried in a dry frying pan. The next step is to take chicken eggs; you should use only a fresh product, in this case the taste of the dessert will be very delicate.
The whites are very carefully separated from the yolks, and then they begin to gradually beat with a mixer. It is necessary to use a cold product for whipping, since the chilled protein mass gives a more fluffy foam.
As soon as the foam becomes as fluffy and airy as possible, granulated sugar is gradually added to it. Beat this mixture for at least five minutes until the crystals dissolve and the mass becomes snow-white and thick. The next step is to add about a glass of chopped nuts, stir the mixture so that the nuts are well dispersed throughout the mass.
Place parchment paper on a large baking sheet to bake the dessert, after which small pieces of protein mass are placed on its surface. It is convenient to do this with a regular tablespoon. The baking sheet is placed in the oven for at least one hour to bake the sweet dish. The temperature is set to one hundred degrees, this will be quite enough to bring this cake to readiness.
After one hour, reduce the heat further and leave the meringues to cook for another thirty minutes. If the dessert is completely ready, it will be quite easy to remove it from the parchment. You can serve this dessert with tea; if desired, one half of the dessert is smeared with butter cream and combined with the other half.
This way you get beautiful and delicious cakes. On the Internet you can find a video of making meringue, according to a recipe with a photo, in the oven from Seleznev. It is also worth taking into account to get a light and tasty dessert.

Vanilla meringues from Yulia Vysotskaya

If you want to make light and airy meringue, then this option for preparing meringue, according to the specified recipe with photo, in the oven from Yulia Vysotskaya, will be ideal. You can prepare such a delicacy with your children, because this activity is very exciting, and if you follow the instructions exactly, the delicacy will come out incredibly tender and fluffy.

Ingredients:

fresh chicken proteins - 4 pieces;
vanilla powder - 1 spoon;
granulated sugar - 285 grams.

Preparation:

To begin with, it is worth separating the whites from the yolks; do this as carefully as possible so that even a small amount of yolk does not get into the protein mass. If yolk drips into the whites, they simply will not rise to a very stable and thick foam. Next, we need a mixer or whisk; with their help, beat the protein mixture until the mass becomes fluffy and airy.
While whipping, granulated sugar is gradually added, pouring it into the fluffy foam in a thin stream. Additionally, you can add a packet of vanilla powder to the mixture. The prepared mixture is set aside temporarily, and in the meantime, parchment paper is placed on a baking sheet, and small meringues are planted on its surface.
You can spoon the mixture out, or use a pastry bag for depositing. Using a pastry bag, a beautiful and even shape of the cakes is created. You can't achieve this with a spoon.
The prepared delicacies are placed in the oven, which is heated to one hundred degrees. The baking process can last from one hour to one and a half hours. The finished dessert is transferred to a plate, allowed to cool, and then served. If desired, you can use this protein dough to make the basis for a cake made from meringue. Instead of vanillin, you can add cocoa powder or lemon juice to the protein mixture.