“Meringues” a Dummies Guide

Meringues used to always be one of my fears to make. Just because, I’m terrible with being extra careful in splitting the egg whites from the yolk. But my husband loves a good Eton mess. So I had no choice but to give it a go. Between my friend, from University and I, we tested out all the tricks on the internet. And shared the learns on What’sApp. And guess what?? It turned out, it’s not actually hard! You just need to use the little tricks. See the troubleshooting guide below. It should give you a crunchy meringue, soft and chewy in the centre. With beautiful shapes that hold. At the end, you will spend most of your time deciding how you want to eat them. My friend loves hers with cream and a berry sauce. I love a mini bite of Eton mess or a great way to top a cupcake!!

INGREDIENTS
3 egg whites
115g caster sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence (orange zest/  drop of colouring)
A Lemon
1 tsp Cornflour

Troubleshooting guide to good meringues

1. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius.
2. Use half a lemon to wipe clean your mixing bowl. The acid breaks down any fat deposits on the bowl.  This step is so important to help the meringue whisk to form peaks.
3. Using fresh eggs, will help the meringues to keep shape. Crack each egg putting the egg white into a separate bowl. This is to ensure no yolk is mixed in. When you are happy with it, pour into your clean mixing bowl.
4. Whisk the egg whites on a slow speed till they form peaks.
5. Take your time with this step. With half the sugar, add a spoon at a time to the egg white. Increasing the speed. Adding too much sugar, too quick will loose your beautiful peaks. Whisk in the rest of the sugar. Then add a little more lemon juice to help stabilise the mixture.
6. Add the cornflour. This helps give that chewy centre. 😋
7. Add a little vanilla essence and of orange zest or a little colouring.
8. On a baking tray put a dab of meringue mix in the corners. Putting baking parchment on top. This prevents the parchment moving when you pipe shapes.
9. Put the mixture into a piping bag with your favourite nozzle. Pipe away all your friends favourite shapes and sizes.
10. Put in the oven for an hour at 120 degrees Celsius and then lower to 90 degrees Celsius for another 30 minutes.
11. Essential step.
Pour a cup of tea and relax.
12. They will be ready when they lift off the baking parchment and you can tap the bottom.

Merigues now less stressful to make!