Meringue can be tricky to make, especially if the weather is hot and humid. Plus, if you have even the slightest bit of oil or yolk in your mixing bowl, the egg whites won’t reach stiff peaks. The good news is that there are some sure-fire ways to guarantee glossy peaks every time. As long as you follow the recipe, you shouldn’t have any trouble making something spectacular. Want to know all the secrets? Keep reading!
1. Meringue Cookies
I had to start with something simple, and these cookies are pure meringue, with no funky coloring or crazy extras to distract from their taste and texture. If you’ve never made meringue before, I recommend you start here since it’s the very beginning, and you’ll get a feel for how it all works. However, as I mentioned above, the weather will have an effect on your cookies. For example, if it’s humid in your kitchen, your cookies may not dry out, and they could start to weep liquid. One trick is to add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the mix to help absorb any excess moisture.
2. Strawberry Pavlova
Pavlova is a layered meringue dessert that usually involves whipped cream and lots of fresh fruit. It’s super popular in Australia, and they often use passion fruit, mango, and coconut. Some people like to make one giant meringue nest, which turns incredibly chewy inside while the edges crisp up. Others like to use layers of thin meringue, which has chewiness, but not as much. This version is more straightforward as it’s easier to dry out the thinner layers. The best thing about this meringue dessert is that you don’t have to try too hard to decorate it. Just dollop on the cream and nestle your fruits all over the top. It doesn’t even matter if the meringue cracks!
3. Boccone Dolce Cake Recipe
This Italian beauty is a lot like a pavlova, but it always involves thin layers of meringue with strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate. To ensure the meringue layers are all even, trace circles around a cake tin onto parchment paper. Then, turn the paper over and use the lines as a guide. You can either pipe the meringue or just use a spatula to spread it out. Since these are layered with the top covered in cream, you won’t need to worry about them being too neat.
4. Vegan Lemon Meringue Pies
Aquafaba is the liquid left over from cooking chickpeas. Your most straightforward option is to simply drain canned chickpeas, but you can make your own by cooking dried chickpeas at home and keeping the liquid. Like egg whites, aquafaba traps air inside as it’s whipped. As a result, it turns foamy, and after a few minutes under the whisk, it will become glossy, and you’ll see familiar stiff peaks.
5. Chocolate Macarons
Macarons look adorable when they’re all lined up in a pastry case. They’re vibrant, flavorful, and the perfect thing to eat with an afternoon coffee. Unfortunately, they’re a little temperamental, and as with most meringue recipes, it’s all about how long you whip the egg whites. The trick is to keep them moving and stop when the mixture turns glossy. But if you keep going past that point, you’ll see it turn dry and lumpy. For the best macarons, mix the egg whites into the dry mix enough to form a glossy batter. But again, you need to be careful not to over-mix it. It might take a little trial and error, but once you get the hang of it, you won’t stop making these elegant French cookies.
6. Strawberry Meringues
Meringue cookies are super low in calories, and they’re naturally gluten-free. So, if you’re looking for a crunchy, chewy sweet treat that isn’t loaded with fat, this is the recipe for you. Plain meringue cookies are very sweet, and they have a slight marshmallow filling, which I just know you’ll love. But it’s actually super easy to flavor them and give them a boost of color. Instead, I made my own strawberry sugar using white sugar and freeze-dried strawberries. Just be sure to use a spice grinder to get it nice and fine. This would work with any freeze-dried fruit powder, so get creative!
7. Easy Chocolate Mint Meringues
Since you’ll be adding peppermint extract and food coloring to the egg whites, this recipe also includes white vinegar and cornstarch, both of which are used to help the egg whites whip up. Plus, the cornstarch will help to absorb any excess liquid and keep the cookies crisp. Of course, the food coloring is optional, and these will taste the same without it. But if you like the color, just be sure to use gel food coloring, as the liquid drops may deflate the meringue.
8. Fluffy Strawberry Meringue Pie
We’ve talked a lot about meringue cookies and how to keep them from weeping or turning flat. This recipe is a little different, as you’ll be using the meringue to make a pie crust instead. That means you don’t need to worry too much about it deflating or cracking. You can easily keep this gluten-free by adding almond flour instead of saltines. Either way, it will be chewy and sweet and hold the pie shape beautifully.
9. Chocolate S’mores Tart with Toasted Marshmallow Meringue
Marshmallows are typically made with boiled sugar syrup and gelatin. These will set enough that you can slice them, and they’ll be lovely and squishy. When you want it thick, silky, and chewy but not set in the same way, you can use egg whites instead. Using a Swiss meringue method, you’ll first cook the egg whites with sugar over a water bath, so the meringue is safe to eat (it doesn’t get baked once you add it to the pie). Just gently whisk until the sugar dissolves, and the egg whites start to look foamy. Then, transfer them to a stand mixer and whisk until glossy.
10. Lemon Meringue Angel Cake
Fluffy, toasted meringue is a thing of beauty, and this cake is stunning after you cover the whole thing. I like the lighter texture of angel cake, and I think it works really well with the lemon curd and meringue coating. But you could use any cake you prefer if here. Although the recipe suggests baking the cake to toast the meringue, I highly recommend buying a chef’s torch. They’re not expensive at all and will be a game-changer in the kitchen.
11. Fresh Strawberry Meringue Cake
The key to cooking meringue is to use a low temperature and let them sit in the oven for a solid few hours after the timer goes. I usually go for around 200°F and let them bake for an hour. Then, turn the oven off and leave them inside to cool. This should be at least 2-3 hours, but as long as overnight works too. Since you’ll be adding a luscious mascarpone cream and fresh, juicy berries, try to assemble this as late as possible. The longer it all sits, the higher the chance the meringue will go soggy.
12. Strawberry Topped Chocolate Pavlova
For a sinful twist on the classic, why not try making chocolate meringue? Where the strawberry meringue recipe above used flavored sugar, this version uses cocoa powder to make your meringue dark and chocolatey. Everything is as you would expect initially, and you’ll need to add the sugar slowly until stiff peaks form. But before spreading it on a lined baking sheet, you’ll fold through cocoa powder, vinegar, vanilla, and chopped chocolate.
13. Honey Meringues
Since meringues are more or less just egg whites and white sugar, they don’t have a lot of flavor. They’re sweet, sure, and when they’re crunchy, they’re a great cookie alternative. But if you don’t add extract, cocoa, or flavored sugar to the mix, they can be a little bland. This recipe amps up the flavor by adding honey, which is sticky, sweet, and super pleasant in anything baked.
14. Christmas Pavlova Recipe
This is such a fun Christmas dessert, and it’s great for something a little lighter after a big roast dinner. Making meringue over the winter months is ideal because most places don’t need to worry about the humidity. So, you can make this a couple of days in advance if need be. Just don’t add the cream until you’re ready to serve, and it should stay nice and dry if you store it somewhere cool (not the fridge). You can even color a little bit of meringue green and add tiny leaves if you want to be extra creative.
15. How to Make Meringue Nests
Meringue nests are a terrific way to feed a crowd. You can easily make a whole big batch and then fill them individually with the same things you would add to a pavlova. The ensure you get meringue nests that are chewy on the inside, but crisp enough to hold their shape, always remember to start whipping at a low speed. You’ll want to see the egg whites start to foam before you crank up the speed to medium. Keep it there until you see those glossy peaks.
16. Peppermint Meringues
Instead of making expensive cookies this year, why not try these super simple, extra tasty little meringue bites? Not only are they pretty cheap to make (you only need egg whites, sugar, extract, and candy canes for decoration), but you can make a huge batch in a matter of minutes. Two egg whites are enough for 36 cookies, so if you double or triple that amount, you’ll have enough gift bags to feed your whole family.
17. Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies
If you want something more elaborate than those simple white cookies from above, these tree cookies are the way to go. I think these look pretty cute in white with the red and green sprinkles, but you could so easily make a few different flavors and add gel food colors. You can even pipe the meringue onto festive paper straws and serve them as lollipops, which the kids will go nuts for.
18. No-Guilt Apple Meringue Galette
Galettes are rustic pies that don’t need any special baking pans. Just roll out the pastry, fill it with something yummy, and fold the edges over to help keep the juices in. I love these types of pies because they’re so easy to make, and I think they look homey and delicious. Still, one clever way to dress it up is to pipe meringue over the pre-baked fruit and bake it again until it turns golden.
19. French Vanilla Meringue Sandwich Cookies with Ganache Filling
As I mentioned earlier, meringue doesn’t have a lot of taste beyond “sweet.” So, one easy way to give it more character is to fill it with tasty frostings and creams. These sandwich cookies are super light, and they’ll melt in your mouth the second you bite through the delicate outer shell. I think these are best with dark chocolate ganache since it’s slightly more bitter, which will mellow out the sugar in the meringue.
20. Mud Hen Bars
If you like cookies that have a slight crunch on the edges with a decadent, chewy middle, you’ll love these mud hen bars. It starts with a quick cookie base, made using butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Over that, you’ll sprinkle chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows. No need to pre-bake anything, which is a time saver! The top layer is brown sugar meringue, which I’m sure you’ve already guessed, is a whipped blend of brown sugar and egg whites. This will turn beautifully crisp on top, and the middle melts into a rich, sticky, ooey-gooey delight.
21. Chocolate Orange Meringue Cookies
From the top, these look like chocolatey cinnamon rolls, right? But instead of hours making dough, proofing, rolling, and portioning it out, you’ll just need a simple meringue and a couple of hours in the oven. These get baked with the chocolate and orange already in place, which generally would worry me since I’d be afraid it would burn. But since you’ll bake them at such a low temperature, it will just melt a little, infusing into the meringue.
22. Nutella Meringues
Just when you thought meringue with chocolate swirled through was indulgent, I come along with Nutella meringues to make you drool! Like the recipe above, the Nutella is added before these go into the oven. I found it easier to pipe the Nutella over the egg whites in the mixing bowl and then scoop it out and plop it onto a tray. Another method is to use a small spoon and sort of drag it over the meringue, swirling gently to leave behind a trail of nutty goodness.
23. Valentine Meringue Cookies
If you’ve ever had to make cookies or snacks for your kids’ birthday or school event, you’ll know it’s gotten a lot more complicated in recent years. Between gluten intolerances and nut allergies, it can be tough to find something everyone can eat. Luckily, there aren’t too many vegan kids around, so these meringue cookies would be the perfect thing to send to class for Valentine’s day. Plus, they’re pretty stinking cute, too! Click on a star to rate it!
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