meringue

[volvo179]

I read a recipe in one of Dan Lepard's books about making meringue by warming the egg white and dissolving the sugar in it before beating (115 gr of white to 225 gm of caster sugar).  I have tried this method several times without success.   I cannot get the mixture to bulk up even after 10 minutes beating with an electric whisk.

Has anyone actally used this method successfully out there?

[cassimer]

I did try this but also with little express. Stick to what i know now!

[cassimer]

errr.... sucess not express!

[Clare A]

The usual reason for egg whites not beating up into a meringue is a tiny trace of either egg yolk or fat being in the mix or on the tools. It really doesn't take very much for it to fail.

[Barbarafb]

I agree with the other two who have answered - stick to the tried and tested traditional recipe and make sure the utensils have no egg yolk or fat traces. 

One other piece of advice my mother passed on to me (many moons ago) is never make meringues on a wet day as the mixture is more likely to flop.  I thought at the time that it was nonsense but have found to her credit that it is, in fact, true.  Maybe it was back in the dim, dark ages when we had no central heating and double glazing and the atmosphere in the kitchen was more likely to be damp.  Anyway, when we do happen to get good weather in the country the last thing we want is to be stuck in the house cooking!

Good luck with it - and please invite me round to sample the results!

[homebaker]

I use this method often, it's an old French way of making meringues, and it always works out fine (my nephew just love them, especially with a big bowl of cream and chocolate sauce). The only problem I found at first was getting the egg white weighed. I just weigh the egg white directly in a bowl on the digital scales, then zero it and weigh the sugar in next. Then I put both into a saucepan over a low heat, whisk it gently until the sugar has dissolved, and then beat in in my kitchenaid until it is thick white and cold. Works really well.

Dinny

[volvo179]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts.

Dinny:  What weights of egg white and sugar do you use?   After the sugar has dissolved and you start beating does the volume of the mixture increase & if so by what approximate percentge?

[homebaker]

Hi,

I use 115g egg whites and 225g caster sugar, then I just put that directly into a pan over a low heat, and stir it until the mixture is hot, the sugar dissolved, but before the egg white has started to cook. Then I pour that into the bowl of my KA mixer, turn it on, and let it beat until cold. The mixture puffs up maybe 6 or 8 times into a marshmallow-like meringue.

dinny

[volvo179]

Dinny.   Thank you for further infro.  I guess from the reference to the KA that you are not living in UK where I live.

Having checked out what a KA mixer is I think that my problem is that I am trying the recipe with a hand held beater with a smallish motor.

I will now try it using a table top mixer with fixed bowl and 700 watt motor.

Will report back.

[homebaker]

No, I'm in the UK. I thought you might be in America.

[volvo179]

Dinny.  Problem solved.   The machine I was using simply wasn't up to the job.

Thanks for your help.  I am in Suffolk.