How to cook meringues at home? What it is? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. Meringue is a dessert, a cake of proteins that are whipped with sugar until an airy dense mass is obtained. It is laid out in the form of a cone and baked to a slightly viscous, tender center and a dense surface.
Meringue
Meringue is a French meringue cake that can be crumbly and brittle, melting in the mouth and tender, soft inside and crispy on the outside. It is no coincidence that the French called this dessert a “kiss,” emphasizing its sweetness and grace. There are few ingredients in meringue, so many people think it is easy to make. However, meringues are a wayward dessert that sometimes behaves unpredictably.
So how to cook in a homemade meringue? Knowing some secrets, you will get delicious and beautiful airy cakes and other desserts made from egg whites, whipped with sugar and baked in the oven.
Cooking methods
Few people know how to cook meringues at home. This dessert can be prepared in three ways: Swiss, French and Italian. The French create the protein mass as follows: whip the proteins with a pinch of salt, gradually pouring the icing sugar until the hash is in excellent shape. Meringues made from it are light and tender. But they can have only a simple shape, as the ornate and elegant roses will blur and lose their unusual appearance.
Instead of sugar, Italians add thick and hot sugar syrup to the protein mass. They pour it in a thin stream, without stopping whipping for a second. This soft and tasty cream is used to smear cakes and fill in tubes and eclairs. This cream is easy to mix with oil to create new flavors. But French meringues in combination with fats lose their shape immediately.
According to the Swiss recipe, the most virtuoso meringue is prepared, as it is done in a water bath. The mass in this case in volume becomes several times larger. Creamy ornate patterns on cakes and fancy cookies are obtained from a thick and elastic hash, which look very impressive and do not blur.
Subtleties of creation
And now we will tell you how to cook meringues correctly at home. Crockery and kitchen tools that will be used in whipping egg whites should be low-fat and perfectly clean. After all, fat prevents the merengue from retaining its shape and worsens the properties of the protein dough. That is why add lemon juice to boiling water and pour them over the dishes before cooking.
To create meringues, take eggs a week ago, since the protein dries up during the storage of eggs and beats more easily. Also, warm proteins with a temperature of 25 ° C are more suitable for meringues. They will give an airy mixture with a strong relief, due to which the products will rise perfectly in the oven, bake well and keep their shape.
Try to use powdered sugar, not sugar, as the finer the grains, the better the protein mass is whipped. Also, the proteins must first be whipped at low speed, so that the mass is saturated with oxygen. When bubbles and foam appear, the speed can be made limit.
Sugar must be added to 1 tsp. at regular intervals. If you pour it all at once, then after baking, the meringues will settle. If you want to get a crispy meringue, then beat it to sharp peaks - when the mass stretches behind the whisk, forming corners similar to a beak. If the protein cream on the whisk forms round elevations that imperceptibly fall, then you have soft peaks, ideal for creating delicate biscuits and cakes.
If starch or flour needs to be added to the protein mass according to the recipe, sift them so that they are saturated with air and the dough does not lose airiness. Meringue is better to bake at a temperature of 80-110 ° C for one to two hours on a form covered with pastry paper. That is why the French jokingly call the meringues "abandoned cookies." Only you try not to forget about your dessert, so as not to overdry it.
Ready-made cakes are always crispy, do not have a dark crust. If you like softer and more tender meringues, bake them until light yellow at a temperature of 150 ° C. How to cook meringues at home quickly? Meringues can be baked for a couple of minutes at a temperature of 200 ° C, and then the fire is reduced to 100 ° C and the oven is still 30 minutes.
While the meringues are baked, the oven cannot be opened, otherwise they will turn into cakes. The readiness of the product is best checked after cooling, since inside a warm cake may seem damp. You cannot store meringues in the refrigerator, as they become damp.
Varieties
Everyone wants to know how to cook meringues at home. On its basis, culinary specialists create many amazing confectionery products with the addition of marmalade, chocolate, jelly, fruits, coffee, berries, whipped cream, curd cheeses, spices and nuts. Meringue is served with marshmallows, ice cream, butter, vanilla or butter cream, poured with chocolate icing. It makes cakes, ptifuras (small cakes) and sweet sandwiches.
Tricks from Delia
You do not know how to cook a delicious meringue at home? Heat the oven to 150 ° C, send the meringue pan to it and turn it off. Meringue will be ready when the oven has cooled completely.
You can put meringues in the oven in the evening. Then by the morning breakfast you will get a great dessert. These are the most important tricks of the recipe for snow-white meringues from the famous chef Delia.
Basic recipe
If you do not know how to cook meringue at home, this recipe must be studied. To create a dessert you need to have:
- three proteins;
- icing sugar or sugar (160-175 g);
- a pinch of citric acid.
Separate the squirrels from fresh eggs in a small bowl, and then transfer them to a bowl to beat. As a result, a badly broken yolk will not spoil the squirrels. Eggs should be cold. Prepare the mixer, pour a little sugar in a bowl of protein. While whipping proteins, gradually add sugar to one tablespoon. l
First whisk at low speed for two minutes. If you use more protein, increase the whipping time. The mass will gradually thicken. In the process, add citric acid to it. Thus, you “whiten” the meringue.
Continue whisking for about a minute at medium speed. Then switch the whisk to top speed and beat until solid peaks. Now spoon the whipped mass onto a baking sheet covered with pastry paper. Bake meringues over low heat.
To do this, preheat the oven to 150 ° C, place a baking sheet in it, lower the temperature to 140 ° C, dry a little meringue and turn off the oven after 15 minutes. The finished treat should cool in the oven.
Meringue can also be baked for an hour and a half at a temperature of 120 ° C. Put dessert on a beautiful plate and serve.
Steamed Meringue with Almonds
Everyone who wants to know how to cook meringue at home should read this recipe carefully. To create a dessert you need to have:
- a pair of proteins;
- 110 g of sugar;
- 35 g almonds;
- 2/3 sachets of vanilla sugar.
Pour hot water into a wide bowl and place a bowl in it to beat the whites. A bowl of water should not touch! Only steam will heat your mixture. Place the squirrels in a bowl and beat them with a mixer at high speed.
When they thicken, start pouring vanilla sugar and granulated sugar. Beat until the proteins are dense and glossy (about 10 minutes).
Now remove the bowl from the water bath. Finish whipping, pour crushed almonds and mix gently. Next, put the mixture into the cornet. Hold it vertically and squeeze on a baking sheet covered with parchment, various figures: snails, patch, hearts, zigzag stripes.
Now send the pan to the oven, preheated in advance to 100 ° C. Bake for about an hour.
Butter cream
Many people ask: “How to cook meringue in the oven at home?” Now we will tell you how to prepare meringue oil cream in a water bath. You need to have these ingredients:
- one egg;
- 100 g of oil;
- two tbsp. l Sahara;
- two tsp alcohol for flavoring.
Pour hot water (about 40 ° C) into a container first. Place another dish on top and break the egg into it. Beat it with sugar in a tight meringue.
In another bowl, begin to whip the soft butter. In the process add one tbsp. l egg mixture. Pour in the alcohol at the end. Next, send the whipped mass to the refrigerator. Spread the cooled and prepared meringues with cream on the flat side and combine in pairs.
Meringue with sesame seeds and chocolate
So, we almost completely answered the question of how to cook meringue cake at home. We will figure out how to make this treat with sesame seeds and chocolate. You need to have:
- 100 g of sugar;
- a pair of proteins;
- 50 g of black chocolate;
- 40 g sesame;
- 2/3 tsp lemon juice.
So, saute the sesame until golden brown. Chill it before making meringues. Grate chocolate. Put the squirrels in a bowl. Beat them at high speed and, as soon as they get a firm consistency, add lemon juice.
Pour in sugar while continuing to beat. Protein mass should become very dense. Finish whipping. Add the sesame seeds and gently stir it. Now pour in the chocolate and mix gently.
Form the meringues with a cornet or spoon on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Send it to the oven, preheated to 150 ° C. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool better on the kitchen grid.
Chocolate Meringue Cake
How to make meringue cake at home? We present you an amazing recipe. For him you need to have:
- four egg whites;
- 150 g of powdered sugar;
- four egg yolks;
- 200 ml of milk;
- 100 g of dark chocolate;
- 1 ml of lemon juice;
- 50 g walnuts;
- 200 g of sugar;
- 200 g of cow butter;
- 40 ml of rum.
How to cook?
All housewives like delicious recipes. How to do meringues at home, you already know. So, we are preparing an amazing cake. First, whisk the egg whites with a couple of drops of lemon juice to a thick foam. Now slowly add the powdered sugar while continuing to whisk.
As a result, you should get a smooth, dense mass of white. Add crushed nuts to it and mix gently. Cover the baking sheet with parchment and put a meringue on it with a teaspoon. Send for two hours in a preheated oven to 100 ° C.
Now start making the cream. To do this, carefully rub the yolks with sugar and milk. On low heat, heat the resulting mass, stirring occasionally. When it becomes thick, remove it from the heat.
Next, beat the soft cow butter. Pour the cooled yolk mass into it and beat it. Now break the chocolate into pieces, melt it in a water bath. Mix with cream, add rum and whisk. Now refrigerate this mixture for half an hour. From a cream and finished meringue, collect a triangular shape and send it to the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Bon Appetit!