What caused my meringue to fall after adding cocoa?
I made a very nice stiff batch of meringue for meringue cookies. I piped half of the batch on the cookie sheet and they looked wonderful (or at least they were nicely stiff, and I need to practice my piping). For the second half, I wanted chocolate, so I added Hershey's (dark) cocoa powder. I didn't measure the cocoa powder. As I whisked it in, the batch ( that had been wonderful) turned very runny. I tried adding more sugar in hopes of reviving it, but to no avail. So from the same batch I had nice white curly kisses and flat chocolate blobs.
Was it the amount of cocoa powder?
Was it the fact that it was dark cocoa?
Was it the timing -- don't try to add something after it had been sitting about 10 minutes?
Something else?
I thought I finally got the consistency just right with the first half of the batch. --If only I had been satisfied with just vanilla... Help?
Best Answer
It was timing. If you want to make chocolate meringues, add the cocoa powder to the liquid egg whites, and then whisk it all together at once.
Beaten egg whites are bubbles. Don't add things to an already-formed meringue, as they will just cause the bubble structure to collapse.
Ever sprinkled sugar or cinnamon powder on a cappuccino? Notice how the milk foam immediately collapses? The same thing happened to your meringue.
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Quick Answer about "What caused my meringue to fall after adding cocoa?"
The cocoa added to the whipped egg white doesn't help stabilize it, so whipping it again once it's added will cause the bubble-structure to collapse rapidly. Delicately folding-in the cocoa until it is just mixed into the meringue should work.Why did my meringue deflate?
The meringue is under-baked. This happens when the cooking temperature is too low or the baking time is insufficient. Basically, under-baking means there is too much liquid left in the meringue, which causes the foam to collapse and the excess liquid to seep out.Why does my chocolate pavlova collapse?
Why is my pavlova flat? Pavlovas can go flat for a few reasons \u2013 not enough air was incorporated into the egg white mixture, or the pavlova shrunk during the cooling period and collapsed. Once you add sugar to the egg whites, you will find that the meringue mixture deflates and becomes runny. This is normal.How do you fix a fallen meringue?
Overbeaten whites will collapse. To revive them, beat 1 egg white until frothy, then gently fold into overbeaten whites until they're shiny and moist again.Why does my meringue collapse when I add sugar?
If the meringue mixture becomes flat or runny when the sugar is added then it usually means that the egg whites were not quite whisked enough before the sugar was added. It sometimes helps to whisk the whites, then add a tablespoon of sugar and whisk the whites back to medium peaks before adding the rest of the sugar.How to FIX a Broken Chocolate Ganache | 3 Common Problems | DallasChocolateClasses.com
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Answer 2
The problem here is partially timing but mostly the second whipping; it's better to fold-in dry ingredients rather than whip into an already formed meringue.
The cocoa added to the whipped egg white doesn't help stabilize it, so whipping it again once it's added will cause the bubble-structure to collapse rapidly. Delicately folding-in the cocoa until it is just mixed into the meringue should work.
This is also how one adds almond flour to meringue to get Macarons.
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