Maybe it’s just me, but I find working with egg whites a little intimidating. It’s kind of like making candy where there are a bunch of stages – soft ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack – and you have to figure out where you are on the spectrum. The only difference with beating egg whites is that there’s no thermometer to tell you which stage you’re at, so it’s just you and your best judgment. Are the peaks stiff? Are they not quite there yet? Have I gone too far? It could drive you crazy, but there comes a time when you have to take the bull by the horns and beat some egg whites. Chances are things will work out, as they did on my first attempt to make meringues. I had five egg whites left over after making salted caramel ice cream, and with the addition of some sugar, cream of tartar, and almond extract I ended up with about a dozen pillowy cookies.
Almond Meringues
5 egg whites at room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
Note: I read somewhere that the proportion of sugar to egg whites is 1/4 cup sugar per egg, so you can easily adjust the recipe based on the number of egg whites you need to use up.
Combine the egg whites, almond extract, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer). Use the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks form. Click here for a video on soft peaks. Increase the speed to high, and add the sugar a spoonful at a time.
Beat until stiff peaks form. Click here for a thrilling video on stiff peaks.
The eggs will be shiny, and now that I read more about stiff peaks it seems as though I didn’t quite get there as there’s a little curl at the end of the peak. No need to worry; I ended up with perfectly edible meringues. I’ll take this as proof that working with egg whites isn’t so tricky after all.
Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper, and spoon globs of the egg white mixture onto the pans. Bake at 225-250 for an hour and a half to two hours – stick to the shorter time if you want marshmallowy insides. Turn the oven off, and leave the meringues in the oven overnight to cool and crisp.
In the morning, you will have these beauties. When I cracked one open I realized that they were still a little marshmallowy on the inside, so I turned the oven back on for 20-30 minutes and the problem was solved. That may not be a totally kosher move, but it didn’t seem to hurt the final product.
If you’re worried about looks you should use superfine sugar, which will dissolve better than regular granulated sugar. I, for one, am more concerned with taste and fewer trips to the grocery store.
