Meringues

My mother used to make meringues for the Christmas holidays, so they are always very festive and special to me. Gloria, Claudine, and Shorey all love meringues. They are a great way of using up leftover egg whites, and they can be made weeks ahead. As kids, we enjoyed them served with apricot jam or topped with whipped cream. They are also great coated with melted chocolate, and a scoop of ice cream sandwiched between two meringues makes a great dessert.

I start with cold egg whites. The volume when beaten may be a bit less than if the whites were at room temperature, but the texture is tighter. I beat the whites on medium-to-high speed for about 4 minutes, until firm, add the sugar fairly quickly, and beat for about 15 seconds more to combine well. Some recipes call for beating the egg white and sugar mixture much longer, so it is very smooth, with no traces of sugar noticeable in it. Although that type of mixture can hold longer than mine, it produces meringues that are a bit chewy and elastic; the meringues in this recipe are very brittle and tender. To show different shapes to Shorey, I spooned some of the mixture onto the lined cookie sheet (see photo) and piped the rest onto the sheet with both a star tip and a plain tip. While some recipes yield white meringues after baking, I like my meringues slightly beige, with a mild caramel taste.

To separate the eggs, I break the whole eggs into a bowl and then lift up each yolk with my fingers to ensure that the whole white is separated from the yolk.

Makes 12 meringues

Heat the oven to 225 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium-to-high speed until foamy. With the machine still on medium-to-high, add the sugar fairly fast (no more than 10 seconds) and keep beating for about 15 seconds longer to combine well.

Using a large spoon, scoop out some of the meringue to create 4 large oval shapes on the lined cookie sheet. Then, for a different look, fit a pastry bag with a star tip or plain tip, fill the bag with the remaining meringue mixture, and pipe out another 8 large meringues.

Bake the meringues for about 3 hours, until firm and light beige in color. Cool completely, then place in a container with a tight-fitting lid and store at room temperature until ready to use.

Serve plain or with whipped cream, jam, chocolate, or ice cream.

To see how it’s done, go to www.surlatable.com/jacquespepin.