Best Perfect Meringue Recipes

ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM FOR PERFECT WHITE CAKE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and 1/3 cup water to a boil. Boil until syrup reaches soft-ball stage (238 degrees.on a candy thermometer).
• In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on low until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat on medium high until stiff but not dry.
• With mixer running, pour syrup down side of bowl into egg whites in a steady stream, and beat on high speed until steam is no longer visible, about 3 minutes. Beat in butter a few pieces at a time. Add vanilla and beat until smooth. If it looks curdled at any point, keep beating to smooth out.

PERFECT LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
• PIE CRUST:.
• Mix flour, vegetable shortening, and salt together in a bowl using a wired pastry cutter. The dough should form into small clumps that don't feel greasy.
• Using a tablespoon, put the ice cold water in one tablespoon at a time, mixing as you go. I usually start with about four - six tablespoons and work my way up from there. The dough will eventually form into a ball. The dough should not feel wet on the outside, just slightly moist and if you break it in 1/2, it should not feel soggy on the inside. If you put in a little too much water, you can always add a bit more flour.
• If you like, you can wrap the dough and place it in the refrigerator for awhile at this stage. Using the ice water, though, removes the need to refrigerate if you don't want to.
• When you're ready to roll, dust your work surface (I use taped-down wax paper for this), your hands, your rolling pin, and your dough with flour. Roll out the dough on your work surface starting in the middle and working outward. Try to keep it in circle form, but it isn't a huge deal. Roll it until it is about 1/4" thick all over.
• Lift up the dough and place it in your pie dish.
• Poke the dough at the bottom of the pie dish with a fork all over. Take the teaspoon or so of sugar and sprinkle it all along the bottom, covering the fork holes. This prevents the bottom of the crust from getting soggy your filling to leaking.
• Around the top rim of your pie dish, pinch the dough so that it forms a small peak all around the rim. I do this by placing my index finger of my left hand on the top of the rim and the thumb from my left hand on the bottom. I then do the same with my right hand about one inch to the right. I slide my right hand (still gripping the dough) toward my left hand, allowing the dough on top of the rim to peak.
• Once this is done, dip two fingers in water, place around one of the peaks and pull your fingers back and down onto the rim of the pie dish to seal the "valleys" of your dough to the pie dish. This prevents them from coming up when baking.
• For the lemon meringue pie, you need to pre-bake your pie crust a bit. The fork wholes at the bottom should prevent it from bubbling up. If you want, you can line the crust with parchment paper and put in some dry beans while baking it to help keep the shape.
• Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until it starts turning brown. You'll be baking it for about another 10 minutes later, so you don't want it to get too brown.
• Allow the pie crust to cool while making the filling and meringue.
• Reduce the oven to 375 degrees.
• LEMON FILLING:.
• Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium (3 quart) saucepan.
• Blend water and egg yolks together.
• Turn heat on medium and gradually add water and egg yolks to the mixture.
• Continue to heat on medium, allowing the mixture to simmer, stirring constantly until thickened.
• Remove from heat, gently stir in juice and zest and then stir in butter until it melts.
• Put aside while preparing meringue, but don't allow mixture to cool.
• MERINGUE:.
• In a small saucepan, mix cornstarch, water, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened and clear. Remove from heat.
• In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.
• Beat in vanilla extract.
• Beat in 1/2 cup of sugar, a little at a time.
• Finally beat in cornstarch mixture a little at a time and continue beating until all the sugar has dissolved and the meringue forms a soft peak.
• ASSEMBLING THE PIE:.
• Pour the warm lemon filling into the pie crust and smooth it until it is even.
• Top the pie with meringue, pushing the edges of the pie crust - ensuring that it makes a good seal with the crust. I like to use the back of a spoon to form little peaks in the meringue.
• Heat at 375 for 10-15 minutes until meringue turns a soft golden brown.
• Allow to cool completely before serving.

PERFECT MERINGUE

Steps:

• Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until frothy.
• Gradually beat sugar a little at a time.
• Continue beating until stiff and glassy. Don't underbeat.
• Beat until all sugar is dissolved.
• Beat in flavoring (optional).
• Pile meringue onto hot pie filling, being careful to seal meringue onto edge of crust to prevent shrinking and weeping.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until delicately browned.

PERFECT LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Mix 1/2 cup cornstarch, l- l/2 cups sugar, water and egg yolks in saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil (about 8 to 10 minutes), reduce heat and continue stirring for one minute until very thick. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter until smooth. Pour hot filling into baked pie crust.
• Beat egg whites in mixer at high speed, until soft peaks form; gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cornstarch, beating until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight) about 3 minutes. Top pie by spooning meringue over hot pie filling, making sure meringue touches edge of pie crust to seal. Use the back of a spoon to swirl meringue and draw up into peaks.
• Bake: Place oven rack in bottom third of preheated 375 degrees F oven. Bake 10 minutes, until peaks are lightly browned. Cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Chill for a minimum of 3 hours before serving.

PERFECT MERINGUE COOKIES RECIPE - SMALL BATCH - ONE DISH KITCHEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a mini baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg white until foamy.
• Add the cream of tartar and beat until fluffy.
• Add the sugar very slowly, about 1 tablespoon at a time while still beating.
• Add the vanilla extract and continue beating until the meringue is shiny.
• Meringues may be dropped by the tablespoonful onto the lined baking sheets or piped onto the sheets using a pastry bag, leaving a 1-inch space between each cookie.
• Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and turn the oven off.
• Leave the cookies undisturbed in the oven for 2 hours.
• Remove from the oven to cool.