Deep within the recesses of the dessert pages of the cookbook classic, Betty Crocker Cookbook, I found an unusual way of making an easy meringue that is virtually foolproof!
If your hens are laying an abundance of eggs, then topping a pie with meringue, or making an angel food cake is a great way to use up several of them. We know that having your own egg farm can force you to become creative in making recipes that require eggs, like angel food cakes, salt-cured egg yolks, and many other cake recipes. That way you’ll be able to make some more space in your carton for tomorrow’s gatherings. Because we are using farm-fresh eggs, we don’t need to worry about them being uncooked! Love that farm-fresh eggs make safe eggs! It gives me such liberty in the kitchen!
Quick Tips for Making the Best Meringue Dessert
- Use a clean and dry bowl, whisk, and tools.
- Don’t allow any yolk into the egg whites.
- Don’t bother trying to make meringue when the weather is humid or rainy. The eggs simply won’t whip up as light and airy.
- Try using superfine or powdered sugar, just make sure your sugar is thoroughly dissolved.
- Don’t over-beat the eggs or they could collapse and won’t recover. It’s so sad when this happens because your only choice is to start over again and lose all the time you spent making the first batch.
- Seal the edges of the pie crust with meringue by spreading it over the crust all the way around. This will prevent the meringue from shrinking up after it is done baking.
- Be gentle while swirling or folding in extra ingredients. You don’t want to deflate all the air you just whipped into it.
- Check out my recipe for Berry Swirl Angel Food Cake where you’ll also find a recipe for a meringue made with a natural sweetener, honey! It’s a little trickier than using sugar, but even more delicious!
How to Make Meringue?
Easy, Fool-Proof Meringue Recipe
Meringue won’t form stiff peaks? Try this virtually fool-proof recipe for a meringue pie topping that stands a mile high.
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites, at room temperature for increased volume (30 minutes)
- ½ cup evaporated cane juice, or sugar (Buy cane juice here.)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ cup cold water
Instructions
- In a saucepan, whisk the sugar and the cornstarch.
- Stir in the water.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Continue to boil, stirring 1 minute.
- Cool completely in the freezer for 10 minutes. (Cooking this gel will ensure that the sugar is completely dissolved and prevents beads from forming.)
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat egg whites and salt on high until soft peaks form.
- Very gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Spoon over hot pie filling (of choice-mine was coconut cream), sealing edges to prevent shrinkage.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or as directed in your individual pie recipe.
- An alternative to baking your meringue, which is what I use to top angel food cake, is to prepare this meringue over a double boiler, beating until stiff peaks form AND the temperature reaches 160 degrees.
That looks great! One question though: How did it look after it had been in the refrigerator? Mine always look good, though not as good as yours, but after they have been refrigerated, they fall and look almost flat.
Sandra,
It did flatten slightly, but was still quite a bit higher than the back of the crust. I went and looked at an old photo that I had taken and put in my recipe book. I am certain that it was taken after having been in the fridge for a few hours and it looked pretty much as high as the one on the blog.
I have read that refrigerating your meringue “ruins” it, but personally, I’m not a fan of warm pie unless it’s a fruit pie.
i am a fan of anything lemon flavored! i must admit, i have been shy of trying homemade lemon meringue pie..thanks for the gentle push:)