Authentic French Meringues

Alright – I published this recipe before, but I’m going to do it up right this time – with pictures. It’s a great way to use up egg whites when you have a recipe that calls for a large amount of egg yolks. See, I made my hubby a cake for Valentine’s Day (I’ll post the recipe very soon). It was a fantastic yellow cake recipe that called for 8 egg yolks. That a lot of yolks! And I hate wasting food, so I decided it was a great time to make some meringues, using up those 8 egg whites. Obviously, I doubled the recipe.

These are always a big hit and they look so great. AND, they’re fat free (although they do have a TON of sugar). Best of all (or worst, depending on your personality type), they are spectacularly messy to make (although quite easy to clean up afterward). And actually, if you don’t use a cookie press (which I prefer to do, just because they’re prettier that way)…anyhow, if you just use a spoon instead, I suspect the process will be a lot less messy.

Since I made these for Valentine’s Day this year, I colored half the batch with red food coloring (they came out pink). It was very pretty. If you want to do that, just put all the white ones that you want out on a cookie sheet and then color the rest of the batch before you put them on the cookie sheet. Incidentally, if you double the batch, you can use two cookie sheets (or more) and put them anywhere in the oven. It’s okay if one sheet is on the top and the other one on the middle rack. I suppose the lowest rack would be okay too, but I always avoid it if possible, since it’s closer to the heat.

Authentic French Meringues

INGREDIENTS:
4 egg whites
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar (optional – see "tips" below)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Butter and flour a baking sheet.
Normally, I’d say that using non-stick cooking spray would be fine, but in this case, I personally was inclined to butter and flour. I’m not even sure why, but it struck me as being safer, since these are going to sit in the oven for close to 3 hours. For all I know, non-stick spray would work fine, but that’s just my disclaimer to let you know that I ACTUALLY buttered and floured. I suppose some of you younger folks might not even know what that means, since the spray has been around for so long. Well, sit down and I’ll tell you a story. You see, before there was cooking spray, your mom and grandma used a technique called “butter and flour”. Basically, you just smear a baking sheet with a thin layer of butter and sprinkle a bit of flour onto the baking sheet. Turn the sheet to various angles and gently bump the edges with your hands so that the flour kind of gets all over the baking sheet. Throw out the excess flour. The flour sticks to the butter and creates a pale white coating. THAT is your mostly non-stick surface for baking. And that concludes your history lesson for today.
2. In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy using an electric mixer. Sprinkle in sugar a little at a time, while continuing to whip at medium speed. When the mixture becomes stiff and shiny like satin, stop mixing, and transfer the mixture to a large pastry bag. Here are pictures of the egg whites at the "stiff peaks" stage when they're ready to go:

Pipe the meringue out onto the prepared baking sheet using a large round tip or star tip. (Or in my case, I used a cookie press. Frankly, you can skip that part all together and just use a spoon if you like. They won’t be as beautiful, but they’ll taste just as yummy. Also note, you can put the meringues very close together because they will not spread out like cookies do. And you can make them any size or shape that you want).
3. Place the meringues in the oven and place a wooden spoon handle in the door to keep it from closing all the way.
Bake for 3 hours, or until the meringues are dry, and can easily be removed from the pan. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.

These will last AND be tasty for months if you keep them in a very good airtight container. And I’m talking not even in the fridge. Just on the counter.

TIPS:
1. Use a clean, dry bowl. The bowl must be grease-free, because any trace amount of fat will wreck a meringue. Glass, ceramic, stainless steel, and copper bowls are all suitable. Plastic bowls may appear clean, but may still have trace amounts of oil, so do not use them.
2. Cold eggs separate easily, but eggs whip to a higher volume when at room temperature. The solution is to separate the cold eggs, and then set them aside for 10 or 15 minutes.
3. Separate each egg into two small bowls, one for the white and one for the yolk, and then add the white portion to the larger bowl. This allows you to reserve any with broken yolks for another purpose. Even a small amount of yolk can deflate the egg whites, so be careful.
4. Cream of tartar, white vinegar, or lemon juice can all be used to stabilize a meringue. Add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar per egg white to the unbeaten eggs. (If you're using a copper bowl to make your meringue, don't add any acid: it can react with the copper and discolor the egg foam.)
5. Whip to medium-soft peaks. Beat in 2 tablespoons white sugar per egg white. Continue to beat until egg whites are glossy and hold a firm peak.
6. Adding sugar early in the beating process results in a firmer, finer-textured meringue.