Get them right and a mini meringue, topped with cream and summer fruits, can be the perfect dessert or sweet treat.
But they can be tricky despite only consisting of a few ingredients. If you want to know how to make perfect meringues, before you start, follow our expert guide.
Preparation Notes: Allow 15 minutes for Stage 1, 45 minutes for Stage 2
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Yields:
20
Prep Time:
1 hr
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 45 mins
Cal/Serv:
197
Ingredients
STAGE ONE: UP TO 3 DAYS AHEAD
4
medium egg whites
½ tsp lemon juice
225g
(8oz) caster sugar
STAGE TWO: UP TO 2HR BEFORE SERVING
75g
(3oz) white chocolate, broken into small pieces
500ml
(17fl oz) double cream
25g
(1oz) icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to dust
½ vanilla bean pod (or 1tsp vanilla bean paste)
150g
(5oz) raspberries, crushed
Fresh berries, to garnish - we used a mixture of redcurrants, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries and blueberries
Directions
Step 1
Put the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl. Make sure it’s spotlessly clean as even a trace of grease can prevent the egg whites from whisking up properly. Sit the bowl over a pan of very gently simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved and the egg white is warm to the touch – about 10min.
Step 2
Remove the bowl from the heat and sit it on a tea-towel on the work surface to prevent it slipping about. Use an electric whisk to beat the egg whites until the mixture is cold, glossy and stands in stiff, shiny peaks when the whisk is lifted from the bowl. This will take a good 15min – any less and the meringue won’t hold its shape in the oven.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 170ºC (150ºC fan oven) mark 3. Cover one large baking sheet with nonstick baking parchment or a silicone mat. To shape the meringues, hold one large dessertspoon in each hand and take a scoop of mixture. With the other spoon, scrape it against the first spoon to lift the mixture off. Repeat twice more to make a rough oval shape, then push onto the lined baking sheet. Repeat
to use up all the mixture – you should end up with 12 meringues. Bake for 15min, then turn off the heat and leave the meringues in the oven to dry out overnight.
STAGE ONE: UP TO 3 DAYS AHEAD
Step 1
Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Set aside to cool for 5min. Brush a thin layer of melted chocolate over the top of each meringue, leaving a 1cm (½in) border around the edges. Leave to set for 10min. The chocolate layer acts as a barrier, stopping the cream from making the meringue too soggy.
Step 2
Put the cream, icing sugar and seeds scraped from the vanilla pod (or vanilla bean paste) into a large bowl. Whisk until the cream is just thickened. Gently fold in the crushed raspberries. If the cream doesn't just hold its shape, gently continue to whisk until it does. If it looks too thick and buttery, fold in a little milk until you have the desired consistency.
Step 3
Top each meringue with a spoonful of raspberry cream. Decorate with berries, then dust lightly with icing sugar. Arrange on a cake stand and serve when ready.
STAGE TWO: UP TO 2HR BEFORE SERVING
Step 1
Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Set aside to cool for 5min. Brush a thin layer of melted chocolate over the top of each meringue, leaving a 1cm (½in) border around the edges. Leave to set for 10min. The chocolate layer acts as a barrier, stopping the cream from making the meringue too soggy.
Step 2
Put the cream, icing sugar and seeds scraped from the vanilla pod (or vanilla bean paste) into a large bowl. Whisk until the cream is just thickened. Gently fold in the crushed raspberries. If the cream doesnt just hold its shape, gently continue to whisk until it does. If it looks too thick and buttery, fold in a little milk until you have the desired consistency.
Step 3
Top each meringue with a spoonful of raspberry cream. Decorate with berries, then dust lightly with icing sugar. Arrange on a cake stand and serve when ready.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
