Cooking instructions

1 hour 10 minutes Print

1. Mix 150 g of sugar and 2 teaspoons (but you can do more, so the smell will be on the whole house) of vanilla sugar.
Crib How to separate whites from yolks

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  2. The main thing is to carefully separate the whites from the yolks, otherwise the whites will be beaten badly and nothing will come of it. I take two cups, carefully pour the whites into one, the yolks remain in the other (you can cover them with foil, put them in the refrigerator and then make something out of them too). We take a bowl in which we will whisk the whites (I have a special plastic bowl for this, you can whip anything in it), a mixer, and go! It is important, of course, that the mixer is powerful. If everything is in order, then 3-5 minutes should be enough to get a strong foam that will not fall out, even if you turn the bowl upside down. Mixer Tool Beating egg whites, as well as kneading other substances like minced meat or dough, is convenient not by hand (as it takes time and effort), but using a mixer like KitchenAid. For example, the Artisan model has ten speed modes and three different attachments for working with any consistency, and it is also a universal food processor at the same time.

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  3. Pour the sugar out of the glass, beat for another 5 minutes. Until the sugar becomes more or less foamy. It is done! To check how perfect everything is, you can run the whisk of the mixer over the surface of the foam, and if there are stationary traces, then everything is ok!

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  4. Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking sheet to fit. Well, we put on it future meringues in any form! I make magic tricks with a bag with different attachments (kind of like a pastry syringe, just simpler). Small or large meringues can be made. Small ones, by the way, bake faster. We put in the oven at 120 degrees, for 50-60-80 minutes, you can check it periodically. If the outside is solid, then it's time to take it out.
  Tool Baking paper Open pies and quiches for even baking are best sent to the oven on a wire rack, and baking paper will help the sauce boiling from the heat to not drip between the rods. A good one is produced, for example, by the Finns - it is quite dense and is already divided into sheets that are easy to get out of the box. And more of the paper is not required.

French meringue cake (meringue) can be fragile and crumbly, tender and melting in the mouth, soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside - it is no coincidence that the French called this airy dessert"Kiss", emphasizing its sweetness and sophistication. Is a protein cake, and meringue is protein cream, from which meringues are made or which is used as a filling for confectionery... Due to the fact that the meringue contains a small amount of ingredients, it seems that it is quite easy to prepare it, however, meringue is a whimsical dessert that sometimes behaves unpredictably. Not every culinary specialist (especially a beginner) knows how to properly cook meringues and meringues, so it’s worth learning a few tricks first, thanks to which you will get a real french dessert without flaws.

Cooking meringue at home: the intricacies of French culinary art

Let's talk about how to bake meringues at home, which recipe to choose and how to achieve excellence in the art of cooking. protein dough, which should be airy, foamy, light and at the same time dense, plastic and well-retaining its shape. Knowing the secrets of preparation, you will get beautiful and delicious airy cakes and other desserts from whipped egg whites baked in the oven with sugar.

French, Italian and Swiss way of making meringues

There are three ways to make meringues - French, Italian and Swiss. The french cook protein mass very simple - whisk the whites with a pinch of salt, gradually adding powdered sugar until it keeps its shape perfectly. Cooked in French, they turn out to be delicate and airy, but they are only suitable for simple cakes, since graceful and ornate roses can blur and lose their original appearance.

Italians, instead of sugar, add thick and hot to the protein mass sugar syrup, pouring it in a thin stream and not for a second stopping whipping. Soft and delicious cream, which turns out to be a little custard because of the hot syrup, they coat the cakes, stuff the tubes and eclairs. The cream is easily mixed with butter to saturate with new flavors, unlike French meringue, which, in combination with fats, immediately loses its shape.

The most virtuoso meringue is prepared according to Swiss recipe, since it is done in a water bath, the mass increases in volume several times. From a thick and elastic mass, fancy cookies and ornate cream patterns on cakes are obtained that do not blur and look very impressive.

The subtleties of making a flawless meringue

The dishes and utensils you will use to whisk the egg whites must be perfectly clean and fat-free. The fact is that fat deteriorates the quality of the protein dough and prevents the meringue from retaining its shape, therefore, before cooking, you should pour boiling water over the dishes with the addition of lemon juice.

Many culinary experts recommend using only very fresh eggs, which is understandable if you are going to make a protein cream, that is, eat proteins without heat treatment... To prepare meringues, it is better to take eggs from a week ago, since the protein becomes drier during storage of the eggs and whips much easier.

For meringues, not chilled, but warm proteins are more suitable, the temperature of which is 22-25 ° C. Cold whites whisk faster, but the mass is less bulky, denser and unstable when baked. Warm proteins give a lush air mass with a stable relief, as a result of which the products rise perfectly in the oven, bake well and keep their shape.

Try to take not sugar, but powdered sugar, because the finer the grains, the better the protein mass is whipped, getting softer and lighter, and not completely dissolved sugar can grind on your teeth, which is not always pleasant when tasting a dessert.

At the very beginning, the speed of whipping the whites should be slow to saturate the mass with oxygen, and when foam with bubbles appears, the speed can be maximized.

Add sugar gradually - 1 tsp. at regular intervals. If sugar is added immediately, then the meringues will settle after baking. Please be patient so that the result meets your expectations!

For a crispy meringue, beat the egg whites until they reach sharp peaks - when the mass reaches behind the whisk, forming corners like a beak. If the protein cream forms round bumps on the whisk that gradually fall off, then you are dealing with soft peaks, ideal for making delicate cakes or biscuits.

Old cookbooks advise adding a pinch of salt to the whites at the beginning of the whisk and a few drops of lemon juice at the end to create a fluffy, bulky mass. With the advent of modern mixers and blenders, the need to add these products has disappeared, so they can be abandoned. If, according to the recipe, flour and starch must be added to the protein mass, sift them to saturate with air so that the dough does not lose its airiness.

It is better to bake meringues on confectionery paper at a temperature of 80-110 ° C for 1-2 hours. For this reason, the French jokingly call the meringues "forgotten cookies", just try not to forget about your dessert so that it does not dry out. The finished cakes should be crispy without a dark crust, and if you prefer softer and softer meringues, bake them at 150 ° C until light yellow. You can bake the meringue for a few minutes at a temperature of 200 ° C, and then reduce the heat to 100 ° C and bake for another half hour.

Do not open the oven while the meringues are baking, or they will fall off and turn into tortillas. It is better to check the products for readiness after cooling down, since a warm cake inside may seem damp. Do not store meringues in the refrigerator to prevent them from getting damp!

On the basis of meringues, you can prepare many delicious confectionery products with the addition of chocolate, marmalade, jelly, coffee, fruits, berries, curd cheeses, milk, whipped cream, nuts and spices. Meringue watered chocolate icing, served with ice cream, marshmallows, vanilla, butter or butter cream, make pancake fillings and sweet sandwiches, cakes and petit fours small cakes. Meringue cakes are like light clouds that melt in your mouth, leaving a delicate sweet aftertaste that you want to relive over and over again. Prepare airy meringues and enjoy great French desserts!

The French called this delicacy "air kiss", while others - "Spanish wind". Delicate, crumbly, crunchy or, on the contrary, soft, like cotton candy inside and with a ruddy crispy crust on the outside - these are all meringues.

The recipe for the treat is ingeniously simple: proteins and sugar. You can make meringues in three ways: French, Italian and Swiss. Each method is good in its own way, but in all cases the meringue dries for a rather long time (1-2 hours) at a fairly low temperature (80-100 ° C). And today we will cook a quick meringue.

The meringue will be baked for only 30 minutes at 145 ° C. It is very important to form small bezels with this method of cooking. It is better to calculate the amount of sugar based on the weight of the proteins of your eggs, and take 2 times more sugar than the weight of the proteins. If you do not have scales, then for 2 proteins of medium eggs, take 5 tablespoons of sugar (with a slide). You can use powdered sugar instead of sugar.

If you bake the meringue in the oven with convection turned on, the cookie will turn out to be slightly creamy.

Making a classic meringue:

1. Carefully separate the yolks from the whites.
2. Use a mixer on a slow speed to beat the whites until a thick and stable foam.
3. Continue whisking, adding the icing sugar a little at a time. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until sugar is completely dissolved. The mass should be dense, elastic and stable.
4. Cover a baking sheet parchment paper and brush it with a cooking brush vegetable oil.
5. Put the whipped protein mass into a pastry bag, with the help of which squeeze it out in portions onto a prepared baking sheet.
6. Send the meringues to bake in an oven heated to 100 degrees for about 1 hour.

How to make meringues at home in the microwave?

To make homemade meringue an airy snow-white delicacy, follow all the cooking technology, and then a great result will not keep you waiting. And if you don't have oven, then use the microwave, where the cakes will turn out to be just as delicious.

Ingredients:

• Proteins - 2 pcs.
• Salt - a pinch
• Sugar - 1 glass
• Vanillin - a pinch
• Flour - for dusting the baking sheet
• Vegetable oil - for greasing the baking sheet

Step by step cooking meringues at home:

1. Carefully separate the whites from the yolks in a clean and dry dish. Add a pinch of salt and beat with a mixer until fluffy.
2. Gradually add vanillin and 1 tablespoon each. sugar. Continue whisking until firm and firm.
3. Baking tray microwave oven brush with vegetable oil and sprinkle with a little flour.
4. Put the whipped meringue into a pastry syringe, with which squeeze it out in portions onto a prepared baking sheet.
5. Turn on the microwave at 750 watts and dry the meringues for 1–1.5 minutes. At the end of the time, do not open the microwave door for 1–2 minutes for the meringues to ripen.

Oven meringue recipe

To serve the finished meringue in an original way, pour it with chocolate icing or butter cream or put in a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

• Chilled eggs - 5 pcs. (only proteins)
• Sugar - 250 g
• Lemon - 1 wedge
• Cornstarch - for dusting the baking sheet

Preparation:

1. Wipe the protein bowl with a lemon wedge. Then separate the whites from the yolks so that not a single drop of the yolk gets into the container with the whites.
2. Beat the egg whites for 2 minutes on the lowest speed and start adding sugar a little at a time.
3. Gradually increase the speed to maximum and continue whisking the egg whites until they become a thick, stable foam.
4. Cover a baking sheet baking paper and sprinkle it with cornstarch. Heat the oven to 100 degrees.
5. Transfer the protein mixture to a pastry bag or a plastic bag, on which cut off the tip on one side, and gently squeeze the meringue onto a prepared baking sheet.
6. Dry the meringues in the oven for 1–1.5 hours without opening the door. If you want to get a sticky meringue inside, then set the temperature to 150 degrees and bake them for 20 minutes. You can check the readiness with your finger: the top is hardened, which means it's ready.

In the photo, meringue with chocolate chips

Despite the fact that there are a small amount of ingredients in the ingredients for making meringue, many people think that it is very easy to prepare it. However, this is a rather capricious dessert that can behave unpredictably. Therefore, to bake meringues at home, you need to choose correct recipe... Then you will achieve perfection in the preparation of protein dough, and it should be at the same time airy, light, foamy, plastic, dense and well-retaining its shape. Owning all the secrets, your cake will turn out to be beautiful and tasty.

The secrets of the French culinary art of making the perfect homemade meringue:

• It is advisable to choose glass, plastic, copper or porcelain dishes for whipping. Aluminum containers will give the proteins a slightly gray tint.
• Always use a dry and clean container and whisk - no water is allowed.
• Among experienced chefs there is an opinion that if you wipe the whipping dishes with a slice of lemon, then the proteins will turn out to be especially steep and fluffy.
• Always comply with the temperature regime, because meringues are not baked, but dried. If your oven has a "convention" function, then use it, it will help remove any hint of moisture.
• Before cooking, the proteins should be in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, then they will beat perfectly.
• Separate the white from the yolk carefully, as getting the yolk into the protein (even a little!) will not allow it to whip to the desired consistency. Also, the protein will not churn if fat gets in, for example, from unwashed dishes.
• To be on the safe side, hammer the whites of each egg into a clean plate as eggs may not be fresh.
• Use powdered sugar instead of sugar, it will dissolve faster and better. Coarse sugar may not have time to completely break, from which it will crunch on your teeth.
• Sugar is introduced into proteins gradually in small portions. The mass is whipped with a mixer, first at a minimum speed so that it is saturated with oxygen, after which the speed increases to a medium mode. It is advisable not to use the maximum speed, otherwise you can skip the readiness of the proteins, they will be interrupted, settle and water will separate.
• It is better to use eggs from a week ago, because during storage, the protein becomes drier, which makes it much easier to beat.
• To keep the meringue dry and stable, the whites are whipped to "hard peaks" when raising the whisk of the mixer, the whites stand confidently and firmly.
• The exact temperature and baking time depends only on the oven and the result you want to achieve: keep its shape and snow-white color or get an airy baked meringue, while losing its whiteness. Also, the size of the meringue affects the cooking time.
• When the meringues are baked, they must be left in the oven for an hour or two to dry and dry.
• Do not open the oven when baking the meringue, otherwise they will fall off.
• It is convenient to cook meringues in the evening, so that for your morning breakfast you get a wonderful dessert of the desired degree of dryness.
• Check the texture of the cake after it has cooled completely, because warm meringue may be still moist and slightly viscous in the middle.
• If the recipe requires the addition of flour and starch to the protein mass, then they must be sieved to saturate with air, then the dough will not lose its airiness.

Observing all the subtleties of cooking meringue, you will get it, similar to light clouds. The cake will melt in your mouth, leaving a sweet-delicate aftertaste that you will want to relive again. Prepare airy meringues and enjoy a great French dessert!

The original French dessert under the loud name "meringue" has spread all over the world and is firmly rooted in many countries. Delicate airy structure refined taste and a pleasant aftertaste does not leave indifferent adults and children. Meringue is served in many eminent restaurants, cakes and pastries are decorated with it. Making dessert at home is considered a valuable skill. If you want to please your guests, feel free to choose a recipe and start the procedure. Let's consider only the most delicious options.

Meringue: classics of the genre

The basic technology of making meringues at home has been developed by professional pastry chefs. Everything else is just variations.

• protein chicken eggs- 3 pcs.
• powdered sugar (beetroot or cane sugar) - 165 gr.
• citric acid - 2 pinches

1. For the preparation of meringues, only fresh eggs of the first category are used, which must be sent to the refrigerator 2 hours before being cooked. Separate the yolks from the whites, place the latter in a deep bowl. Important! Separate the egg whites into a separate container, then transfer them to a common whipping bowl. Such a move will eliminate the likelihood of a partial hit of the yolk in cases where it breaks.
2. When all the cooled proteins are in the bowl, turn on the mixer to medium power and beat for 10 minutes. You need to get a thick, dense foam.
3. Once this happens, prepare the icing sugar. Scoop it with a tablespoon and gently add it to the mass, while stirring with a mixer at low power. Beat until the granules are completely dissolved. Important! On 1 egg white accounts for 55 gr. icing sugar... If you are preparing meringues for a large company, calculate the necessary proportions for a particular case.
4. When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, proceed to the next step. Send the mass to the refrigerator for 10 minutes, after the expiration date, remove and whisk again. With each minute passed, the foam will begin to whiten and bubble, at this moment you need to add 2 pinches of citric acid and mix again.
5. Beat the meringue with a mixer for about 3 minutes at maximum speed. A visual inspection will help to determine the readiness of the composition: remove the boom of the device from the mass, evaluate the density of the foam. The air rush should keep its shape without dripping. You can also dip a tablespoon into the composition, the foam will not fall off.
6. After making the cream, remove the baking sheet and line it with baking paper or foil. At this time, preheat the oven to 160 degrees, proceed with the following manipulations.
7. Scoop the meringue with a tablespoon and form it into a ball on the baking sheet. Since the mass tends to increase by 2-2.5 times, calculate the distance between the bezeshki based on the knowledge gained.
8. After placing the air mass on baking paper or foil, send the baking sheet to the oven preheated to 160 degrees. Immediately reduce the heat to 130-140 degrees, otherwise the meringues will seize with a crust, but will not bake inside. The cooking time is a quarter of an hour, no more.
9. After the specified period, turn off the oven, do not open the door. The meringues should be inside until they cool completely.

Important!
There is another cooking technology: set the temperature to 110 degrees, bake the cream for 1 hour.

• chicken protein - 3 pcs.
• granulated sugar - 145 gr.
• sesame seeds - 35 gr.
• dark chocolate - 55 gr.
• citric acid - 10-12 gr.

Citric acid can be replaced with citrus fruit juice, increasing the amount by 3 times (about 35 ml.).

1. Prepare a non-stick skillet, heat it over high fire... Add sesame seeds, fry for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. When the food turns golden, transfer to a dry bowl and let cool.
2. Grate or grind a bar of dark chocolate on a coarse grater (if desired, replace it with milk).
3. Place in a deep container chicken proteins, turn on the mixer to the maximum speed and beat the eggs into a thick foam (the beating time varies between 5-7 minutes).
4. As soon as the mass rises and thickens, pour in lemon juice or add acid, while doing this, do not stop working with the mixer. Begin adding granulated sugar slowly while stirring at medium speed.
5. When the mass becomes dense and thick, turn off the device. Pour in the fried sesame seeds, stir it with a fork, add the grated chocolate. Stir the composition thoroughly until it acquires a dense and thick consistency.
6. Preheat the oven to 145-150 degrees. At this time, remove the baking sheet, line it with baking paper. Pour the meringue into the sleeve, squeeze out in small portions, keeping a distance of 5-7 cm between the balls. If desired, you can spread the product with a regular tablespoon, as in the previous recipe.
7. Send the mixture to bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. After this time, do not open the door, let the dessert cool down. Optionally, garnish the top of the treat with whipped cream and a strawberry wedge.

• granulated sugar or powder - 275 gr.
• egg white - 5 pcs.
• chopped salt - 1 pinch
• citric acid - 1 pinch
• butter - 115 gr.
• condensed milk (boiled) - 150 gr.
• milk chocolate - 100 gr.

1. Refrigerate chicken proteins for 40 minutes. Take them out later and transfer them to a deep container. Pour in citric acid, beat with a mixer for 10 minutes. In the end, you should have a stable, thick foam.
2. Begin to gently add granulated sugar (it is better to replace it with powder). In this case, you need to whip the mixture at the same time at medium speed. When the crystals are completely dissolved, increase the power, bring the mass to a shiny state.
3. Check the composition for density: tilt the bowl, evaluate the consistency. Foam should not leak out. Send it to a pastry sleeve, line a baking sheet with cling foil for baking.
4. Preheat the oven to 50 (!) Degrees. Squeeze out small balls, maintain a distance of about 5 cm between the meringues. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 3.5 hours so that the mass is completely dry and crispy.
5. Start preparing the cream. Cut the butter into small slices and leave at room temperature to soften. After that rub boiled condensed milk with butter until smooth, beat.
6. Break a chocolate bar into squares, place them in an enamel pot and melt in a steam bath. It must remain liquid throughout the entire cooking process.
7. Dip the flat part of the meringue in chocolate, do the same with the other meringues. Spread them on a platter, refrigerate for 1 hour.
8. At the end of the term, take two bezeshki, pour cream from butter and condensed milk, glue the two parts together. Put the dessert back in the refrigerator, wait for the final hardening (about half an hour).

Serve chilled to the table, otherwise it will soften.

To prepare a dessert using the original French technology, please read the important tips regarding the procedure.

1. At the slightest hint of moisture, the dessert begins to soak, as a result of which the structure and general impression of consumption are distorted. The recommendation applies to the choice of dishes: mix the components only in dry bowls, water should not be allowed to enter.
2. Degrease the dishes before placing the ingredients in the beating container. Soak a cosmetic swab in vodka or rubbing alcohol, wipe the bowl.
3. If you don't have a mixer, use a regular whisk. However, it is unlikely that it will be possible to achieve the desired consistency, since the mass will be whipped hard. To give the proteins the necessary fluffiness, wipe the bowl with a lemon wedge or a cotton pad dipped in citrus juice.

It is important to understand that the meringue does not need to be baked, you just need to dry it. In this case, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime and the holding time of the mass in the oven. In cases where your oven has a convention function (moisture extraction), use it.

Video: recipe for making crispy meringues