Ultimate meringue

Ultimate meringue

Perfect your whisking skills for these light baked meringues - a blank canvas for tasty flavour combinations

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 16

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

Plus cooking
Freezable

Method

  1. 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).
  2. Tip the 4 large 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.
  3. Now turn the speed up and start to add 115g 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.
  4. Sift one third of the 115g 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 remaining 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.
  5. 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.

Per serving with cream

210 kcalories, protein 2.1g, carbohydrate 31g, fat 9.6 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 0g, sugar 30g, salt 0.12 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2003.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 101-120

  • Binder photo Pishi68

    29 December 2012

    Pishi68 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I use recipes for inspirations to cook, then I rather haphazardly experiment and do not weigh or measure any ingredients! Sorry the real buffs!! With this one (my first to try meringues) I made some icing sugar using my electric soup stirrer on some castor sugar, followed the steps but estimated that I used less icing and sugar, also as a final step added fresh lemon zest. Meringues to me have always been 'super sweet', and the added zest certainly added a lovely dimension. As my sugar was not measured I could not be dead sure that it was reduced, but the result pleased me.

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  • Binder photo Clara B

    04 January 2013

    Clara B rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    First ever meringue... Fantastic, easy to follow recipe and a complete success (they didn't stick to the parchment) and not too sugary.

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  • Binder photo Joan

    05 January 2013

    Joan commented on this recipe

    Well I can not believe it the very best meringues I have ever made . Just one suggestion I cooked them 20 mins longer on a lower heat.and then switched the oven off and left the meringues in till the oven cooledy

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  • Binder photo Joan

    05 January 2013

    Joan commented on this recipe

    Well I can not believe it the very best meringues I have ever made . Just one suggestion I cooked them 20 mins longer on a lower heat.and then switched the oven off and left the meringues in till the oven cooledy

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  • Binder photo clare-gabby

    08 January 2013

    clare-gabby rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Never made meringues ever before and after making these I am so happy I did make them. It was sooo easy to make these but it take over an hour in the oven but it is well worth waiting for them. They were nice and crunchy on the outside & lovely and soft on the inside (the way they should be). I whipped up some cream & cut up some strawberries and put that in the middle of them & they were just divine.. Made them for a family meal & every1 seemed to just love them as there was not a crumb left in sight. highly recommend anyone to make them, they are easy to make & is also cheap so no damage to your pocket.

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  • Binder photo bobcratchit

    14 January 2013

    bobcratchit commented on this recipe

    this recipe is absolutely the worst one i have ever come across. It came out very runny and tasted overly sweet and very bad!!!! Please fix this recipe before other people start complaining...

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  • Binder photo MammyHen

    19 January 2013

    MammyHen rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really easy and really tasty, yum yum yum I will be cooking this again for sure..

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  • Binder photo Chillikid

    27 January 2013

    Chillikid rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Even though this was my first proper attempt at making meringues it worked for me! only complaint is the meringues turned out beige coloured but this may have been because I had the gas up too high.

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  • Binder photo Sam Fitz

    30 January 2013

    Sam Fitz rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This recipe is fab! The meringues are gorge & chewy in the middle & it's so simple!

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  • Binder photo the Frenchie

    04 February 2013

    the Frenchie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I'm not a huge fan of meringues usually and never tried it before but I had 2 egg whites in the fridge and I hate wasting food. This recipe is very easy and my meringues came out lovely. I halved the quantities but I ended up with 15 big meringues! I didn't expect them to grow bigger while cooking! I only cooked them for 1 hour and they were not gooey inside because my oven is crazy, but they were very good. Had them with some raspberries, yummy!

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  • Binder photo hicklepickle

    10 February 2013

    hicklepickle rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    easy peasy lemon squeezy ! These are fab and loved by everyone, I left them in the oven, when they were cooked, with the door open to really dry and they tasted even better. Can't to wrong with this recipe.

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  • Binder photo hicklepickle

    10 February 2013

    hicklepickle commented on this recipe

    easy peasy lemon squeezy ! These are fab and loved by everyone, I left them in the oven, when they were cooked, with the door open to really dry and they tasted even better. Can't to wrong with this recipe.

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  • Binder photo hicklepickle

    10 February 2013

    hicklepickle commented on this recipe

    easy peasy lemon squeezy ! These are fab and loved by everyone, I left them in the oven, when they were cooked, with the door open to really dry and they tasted even better. Can't to wrong with this recipe.

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  • Binder photo fionamair

    10 February 2013

    fionamair rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    made these today, super easy recipe to follow with perfect results, gooey on the inside, crisp on the outside. 5 stars again Good Food!

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  • Binder photo elphaba27

    25 February 2013

    elphaba27 commented on this recipe

    my meringues were lovely and crisp on the outside and very sweet but the inside was very soggy, what am i doing wrong?

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  • Binder photo Rachy606

    04 March 2013

    Rachy606 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Beautiful, crispy outer and chewy inner! Tastes gorgeous with whipping cream and strawberries :)

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  • Binder photo Trudie

    13 March 2013

    Trudie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Excellent - easy and perfect results! Best meringue recipe I've ever used. They kept well too (I hid a few from the ravening hordes and they were possibly even yummier four days after they'd been made).

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  • Binder photo Poppypips

    27 March 2013

    Poppypips commented on this recipe

    This recipe is great!!!I have tried making these before but they NEVER worked out...When I was making these,they were really watery at first,so i thought there was something wrong so i left it alon.Then i saw a video on beating egg whites and realized i hadn't beaten them long enough!

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  • Binder photo CAW WALES

    27 April 2013

    CAW WALES commented on this recipe

    I agree that this is an excellent recipe. Have grappled with many others, changing oven temperatures etc etc...But this recipe is easy and straight forward and the meringues crisp on outside and gooey in the centre. The nearest I can get to ones that my Grandmother used to make.

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  • Binder photo Katharine

    28 May 2013

    Katharine rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This recipe was very detailed and easy to follow. I made them with my 6 year old step-son. I was very pleased with the results considering his involvement in the "folding" stage which I was worried was a little too vigorous. The meringues were a little too gooey in the centre for my taste, I should have left them for a further fifteen minutes in the oven, but I received such compliments at the lunch I served them at (people went back to take a fifth!) that they have to have a five star rating!

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 16

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

Plus cooking
Freezable

Ingredients

  • 4 large organic egg whites , at room temperature
  • 115g caster sugar
  • 115g icing sugar
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Per serving with cream

210 kcalories, protein 2.1g, carbohydrate 31g, fat 9.6 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 0g, sugar 30g, salt 0.12 g

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