Making my meringues form peaks

Making my meringues form peaks - Close-Up Photo of a Person with Knitted Gloves Forming a Snowball

Last week I made a meringue icing for my cupcakes and had problems making my meringue form peaks. This makes me ask what are some of your tips/tricks? What do you do or add to your egg white mixture in order to help it form peaks when you are having troubles.

eggsmeringue


Best Answer

It's important to let your eggs get to room temperature. I use this simple recipe for all meringues:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
  • Pinch of cream of tartar

The cream of tartar is what really makes the egg whites to firm up nicely.



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Quick Answer about "Making my meringues form peaks"

  • Recipes often call for adding cream of tartar before beating whites to stiff peaks. ...
  • When making meringue and other desserts that call for adding sugar to the whites, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute or until soft peaks form (tips curl).


    • How long does meringue take to form peaks?

    It can take a while for a meringue to reach stiff peaks and for the sugar to dissolve\u2014about five minutes with a hand mixer.

    Can you over whisk meringue?

    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.


    Whipping Egg Whites To Perfect Peaks



    More answers regarding making my meringues form peaks

    Answer 2

    Well, I think that my big mixer has something to do with it. If I put clean (no-yolk) whites in a clean bowl there and turn it on, I don't have any problems getting peaks.

    If you are doing this by hand, cream of tartar and a copper bowl are both recommended.

    Answer 3

    I think you should whip the whites to soft peaks (peaks curl over when you take the whisk out) before adding the sugar, which will help to stiffen up the meringue. The more sugar you use the stiffer the meringue will be (up to a point, obviously). Use very fine sugar, which will dissolve more easily into the egg whites.

    You can whip until the peaks stay straight up when you take the whisk out but avoid over whipping as this will cause the meringue to collapse.

    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: Yan Krukov, Maria Orlova, Monstera, Katerina Holmes

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