French-Style Merengue Cookies
Monica Coulliard
014-10-02
Seacaucus NJ
4 egg whites at room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar (use 1-1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice as a substitute, but cream of tartar is preferred)
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
A few tips:
1. Make sure the bowl that you are using is completely dry – no water and no grease
2. Only use egg whites at room temperature – there should be absolutely no yolk in the mix or it will not form peaks.
3. Sometimes I will pipe these cookies as small nests and add whipped cream and wild berries or chopped fruit to serve as a beautiful dessert.
We’re not really baking here, we’re removing the moisture by drying our mixture at a low temperature in the oven.
Preheat oven to 215 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Add egg whites to clean bowl and start beating by hand or use mixer for 15 seconds. Sprinkle in the cream of tartar, salt and continue beating. Add sugar slowly at a rate of 1 tablespoon every 20 seconds while you continue beating.
Once all of the sugar has been added, slowly add the vanilla while beating and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and forms stiff peaks, which is about 3-5 minutes. Quickly add the mixture to a piping bag with a large tip (or use a clean plastic food storage bag and cut off a small triangular tip to use for piping). Pipe the mixture onto the parchment paper to form a ring, then continue piping around the ring to form a dome with a peak at the top. Place in the oven for one hour.
Turn off the heat after the time is up, but do not open the oven door. Leave the cookies in the oven for 90 more minutes with the oven door closed. Merengue cookies must be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature and will last about two weeks.
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