Welcome to Meringue Month!

Wow. I totally underestimated how difficult meringues are to make!

After seeing the beautiful pastel-shaded meringues on the Meringue Girls stand at Feast, I had to work out how to recreate them, and as their book isn't out until September that meant an awful lot of wasted egg whites. The last two weeks I have used approximately 30 egg whites* and 1.5kg of sugar trying to get something that looks even vaguely like the meringues I had in mind.

I tried all the usual meringue methods; French, Italian, Swiss and the one preferred by the Meringue Girls, which doesn't have a name, but I think it first appeared in one of Yotam Ottolenghi's book.

Here's a quick comparison of each method:
French: Add caster sugar into whisked egg whites
Italian: Make a sugar syrup and add to whisked egg whites once it reaches soft ball stage
Swiss: Heat egg whites and sugar over a bain marie then whisk
Meringue Girls: Heat sugar on a baking tray in the oven then add to whisked egg whites

It's best to try out all the methods and find the one that works best for you. I am going to stick with the French method as you really need a sugar thermometer for the Italian and Swiss methods and you need to not get distracted and forget about the sugar for the Meringue Girl's method!



Most recipes suggest an egg-to-sugar ratio of 1:2, but I found that my meringues kept collapsing when I used this much sugar, so I reduced it to 1:1.5 and they came out perfectly (well almost).

As you can see from the pictures, I had some issues getting the right shades with the food colouring. To get the stripy meringue effect you need to paint the inside of the piping bag with the food colouring. The vibrancy of the colour will depend on how much water you add to it, and will probably take a bit more practice to get it just right.

Below I've written up the meringue method that worked best for me, but first here is a gallery of some of my failed attempts in the hope that it will encourage others to try and try again!





















Wrinkly meringues






















Strangely bubbly meringues


Cracked meringues


More wrinkly meringues


Meringues with very weird bubbly feet























Some of the many meringue rejects



These meringues are just a minute or two of extra whisking away from being perfect, but they'll do for now...

*I use the pasturised egg whites you can buy in cartons, so I didn't waste 30 egg yolks in the process!


French meringue method: makes 20 medium sized meringues

100g egg whites
150g caster sugar
Food colouring, diluted in a few drops of water

• Pre-heat the oven to 150°C and line two baking trays with parchment
• Snip the end off a piping bag and paint stripes of food colouring on the insides
• Whisk the egg whites in a clean dry mixing bowl
• Beat on the lowest speed until they begin to hold their shape
• Begin adding a little of the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition
• Once all the sugar has been added increase the speed and beat to form a stiff glossy meringue
• The meringue is ready when it can be lifted into stiff peaks but the tips still flop over slightly
• Pipe the meringue onto the baking tray in evenly sized blobs
• Place n the oven and immediately turn it down to 120°C
• Bake for 1 1/2 hours, then leave to cool with the door slightly ajar and the oven switched off

Eat meringues the day they are made or store in an air-tight container. Meringues dissolve when they come into contact with any moisture (including things like cream) so if making something like a pavlova, make sure you assemble it only an hour or so before serving.