Chocolate Meringue Pie Recipe - Grandma's Meringue Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to fluffy meringue? ›

Use fresh egg whites. Old egg whites tend to collapse when other ingredients are folded in, and they don't rise well in the oven. Use eggs at room temperature. Cold egg whites tend to reduce meringue volume.

Why Meringue Pies Weep. As it turns out, undercooking and overcooking can both cause weeping meringue and unwanted moisture on top of your pie (aka beading). Overcooking meringue causes those little sugary drops of moisture on top of baked meringues.

A secret ingredient: corn starch

Corn starch is composed of long molecules that it is believed insert themselves between egg white proteins to prevent them from clotting too much while meringue is baking.

The cornflour and vinegar that is added strengthens the egg white and make it more stable and you get the marshmallowy centres from the shorter cooking time.

Over whip the egg whites and you risk making them too firm and they will risk losing the moisture that they hold. This will affect your meringue's crispness, as well as making it more likely to collapse or weep beads of sugar. As my meringue guru Gary Mehigan advises: “If you over whip the egg whites you cannot fix it.

The bottom line: For smooth, stiff beaten egg whites that keep their shape, don't skip the cream of tartar. If you don't have cream of tartar, substituting 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar per egg white works almost as well. To avoid meringues that weep, don't skip the cream of tartar...

Spoon the meringue onto the hot pie filling. If you are topping an unbaked pie filling, have it at room temperature (not cold) before you top it with the meringue. Spread the meringue to the crust edge to seal the filling in. Fluff it with the back of a spoon to make decorative peaks across the pie.

There are two things that can cause weeping is there could be slightly undissolved sugar crystals in the egg white. If you suspect this to be the case, try using powdered sugar. The second is a case of the meringue baking 4/10ths of a second too long! Well, maybe not that precise, but even the slightest over-baking.

Baking Meringue

A meringue is done baking when it releases easily when gently lifted from the baking sheet. If it's close, keep checking every 5 to 10 minutes.

How do you fix gooey meringue? ›

Fixing runny meringue is usually as simple as whisking more air into the mixture and waiting for it to develop stiff peaks. You can also add another egg white or a teaspoon of cornstarch to get the mix to the consistency you need.

Eggs whipped at room temperature will get the same result. We recommend using fresh, cold egg whites for meringues. They make a foam that is easier to work with, and the baked meringues have a more delicate and uniform texture.

The sugar acts as a stabilizer by binding with the water and giving a stable shape to the meringue. The addition of sugar is the critical point in the production of meringue, as it can reduce the foam formation in the beginning and has to be gradually added only after the foaming has begun [3].

Meringue is a classic confection that has stood the test of time. It is a delicate foam made by beating egg whites and sugar until they reach stiff peaks. The resulting texture is light and airy, and the taste is sweet and ethereal.

Acid. Whether it be vinegar, lemon juice, cream of tartar, or a combination, an acid will greatly improve the structure of meringue. Acid not only helps meringue whip up and aerate more quickly, it also keeps it stable. Without acid, meringue is more likely to collapse either during or after mixing.