Making crunchy meringues?

[flobadob]

I have a meringue recipe for topping a lemon meringue pie and it consists of 3 egg whites with 1/8 teaspoon of salt and cream of tartar. These are beaten for a while and then I add 6 tablespoons of caster sugar and it's done. It is then baked as the topping for the lemon meringue at 180C for 15 minutes and it gives a soft topping.

However, I'm wondering could this recipe possibly be used to make the crunchy meringues that can be used as desserts and if so, how? Likewise if this is not possible could someone please give me a recipe and technique to make the crunchy meringues?

Thanks.

[EcclesCake]

Same recipe but reduce temp to 150C for first 15 mins to 'set' them and then reduce temp to 110C for an hour or so.

Do you want them really hard and dry or do you want a hint of gooey chewiness?

[ladybirder]

Ooh you MUST have gooey chewiness:-)

[DTCwordfan]

cook the meringue for 60 mins to 1-30 depending how low you can set your oven - if you can get down to under 130, then great and the latter....then switch off the oven and let them cool - thats how you get them white and crunchy. The worse thing to do is cook them at a "high" temp...the other trick is in ensuring you properly whip.......usually a little longer than you think - recipe for 16 meringues or a med Pavlova base.

4 large organic egg whites , at room temperature
115g caster sugar
115g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to fan 100C/ conventional 110C/gas 1⁄4. Line 2 baking sheets with Bake-O-Glide non-stick liner or parchment paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).

Tip the egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.

Now turn the speed up and start to add the caster sugar, a dessertspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It's important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later. However, don't over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy. Glossy being the key word here.....

Sift a third of the icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don't over-mix. The mixture should now look smooth and billowy, almost like a snow drift.

Scoop up a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture. Using another dessertspoon, ease it on to the baking sheet to make an oval shape (pic 3).
Or just drop them in rough rounds, if you prefer.

Bake for 1 1⁄2-1 3⁄4 hours in a fan oven, 1 1⁄4 hours in a conventional or gas oven, until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour. Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.) Serve two meringues sandwiched together with a generous dollop of softly whipped double cream.

Yum - then a rapsberry coulis, raspberries/strawbs/blueberries and whipped cream.........heaven

[EcclesCake]

I agree ladybirder, hard brittle meringue is the culinary equivalent of running finger nails down a blackboard - IMHO!

[heathfield]

On the other hand, that soft pile of white muck passing itself off as meringue on the top of shop-bought lemon meringue pies is fit only for the bin.

[flobadob]

I suppose the gooey chewiness sounds good. I'm not a fan myself but I was thinking of trying it out for my wife as she likes them. I was thinking of making it as a pavlova rather than small meringues.

Will the technique mentioned by Eccles first answer give this finish?

[EcclesCake]

Flobadob, my cooking directions for a 3 white pavlova should be fine. If you don't want it too chewy then leave it in the oven with the door ajar after you've finished cooking.

[flobadob]

Thanks, I think I'll give it a whirl.

[flobadob]

It doesn't seem to have worked. I cooked it for an hour and a half but it is very soft on top with no crunchiness. Does the crunch come later or has it not worked and can anything be done to remedy it?

[ladybirder]

You need crunch on the outside and a tough of gooey in the middle for perfection in my opinion. Fruit Pavlova is my favourite pudding, with cream and ice cream. I have it once in a blue moon.

[EcclesCake]

Hhhmmm, was your meringue good and stiff when you shaped it?

Do you have a fan oven? I assumed you did so it may be my fault.....

If you don't have a fan oven, do you cook on electric or gas? The moisture of a gas oven can make a difference to meringue.

[DTCwordfan]

I know this is digressing but I had some cracking good profiteroles this lunch time, made by my sister...she puts a small bowl of water under the profiterole tray as they cook......then split with (home-made) ice-cream in them and home-made choc sauce.

[DTCwordfan]

sounds like it wasnt stiff enough - when the sugar goes in you should have a wonderful silvery gloss and then stiff enough that it doesn't fall of a spatula....

[douglas9401]

Coincidentally I was in our local Greggs the other day. I pointed to the sweet cabinet and asked "is that a donut or a meringue"
Wifie replied "naw yer right, it's a donut".

[DTCwordfan]

Aaaah, Greggs - "The Master Disaster Bakers" IMO

[atalanta]

Believe it or not, you can actually make meringues in the microwave. With extreme care. Don't beat the egg white. Just work as much caster sugar as you can into the egg white until you have a very stiff, very dry paste. Put no more than 6 equal walnut-sized lumps (or a very even ring of the sugar paste) on non-stick paper on the plate of the microwave. It will take only seconds for it to cook - you can watch the lumps of paste quickly swelling up like little balloons - but it will take only seconds more for it to burn, which is why I say extreme care.
You might try a couple of preliminary experiments , just in case.