What is Meringue? French Meringue, Swiss Meringue & Italian Meringue Explained

If someone asked you, "what is meringue"? Would you say the light, piled-high, fluffymeringueon top of a pie? Or the delicately crunchy and chewy kind you find in a cookie?No matter how you answered, you’dbe right. Notall meringues are created equally. At the very core, meringue is asweet dessert topping made from whipped egg whites and sugar, but thereareactually threetypes —Italian Meringue,French Meringue,andSwiss Meringue. Let's break down thedifferences and similarities.

French Meringue

How it’s Made:Thesimplest, lightest, and least stable of the three is a French Meringue.Egg whites are whipped with granulated sugaruntil stiff,without heating the mixture.This meringue type is always baked and has a wonderfullycrispexterior and a chewy interior.

Best Uses:It can be piped into desired shapes for individual cookies, Pavlova, orfolded into batters like a souffle to supply airiness.

Swiss Meringue

How it’s Made:This medium-stable meringue starts with egg whitesthatare whipped withsugar over a hot water bath until lukewarm and then whipped cold.This type of meringue can beused forrecipes similar to French meringue, but it’s less delicate and airy.

Best Uses:Swiss meringue is often used to makemeringue decorations since it is denser.

Italian Meringue

How it’s Made: The most stable of the meringues, thisItalianmeringue is partially cooked, either bypouring a cookedsugarsyrup onto egg whitesand gradually beating themor by whipping egg whites and sugar over a double boiler.Italianmeringueneeds to beheated to a temperature of about 150°F. Then it is whipped untilit reaches roomtemperatureor cold.

Best Uses:Its stability and smooth texturemake it great formousses, to lighten creams,ortofrost onto desserts such asBaked Alaska oraSemifreddo.Italian meringue is not used for cookies or pavlova.

Whichever type of meringue you prefer, Chef Eddyoffers the following tipsfor the best outcome.

Prepping Meringue

Make sure bowls and equipmentareclean and dry.
Meringue can be made in a handheld mixer or preferably in a stand mixer. Making meringue using a hand whisk requires lots of muscle. 
Egg whites will whip quickest when at room temperature, so best to plan ahead.
Some recipes, such as for macarons, indicate using older egg whites. This means eggs that have been separated from the yolks 2-4 days beforehand and were storedin the refrigerator.
Although disputed by some sources, Chef Eddy has noticed thatorganic eggs produce more stable meringues.

Whipping Meringue

Sugar needs to be free of any otheringredient or itcan prevent the meringue from whipping properly. So make sure scoopsthat traveled between other ingredients and sugarare cleaned properly first.
See Also
Tips on How to Make Meringue Successfully French Techniques and Traditional Recipes: Meringue Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making Meringue Meringue rules
Cream of tartar is used in some meringue applications as it makes the meringue more flexible. However, before adding it, it may be best to stick with the recipe as indicated.
Follow the suggestions in the recipe. For example, in angel food cakes, the egg whites and sugar are whipped to medium peaks.If they were whipped stiff, itcould result in a less airy cake.

If the recipe calls for a stiff meringue, it is usually because it requires stability. Whip it until it forms stiff peaks. You will know it’s stiff enough when you pull out the meringue and it creates a peak.

Baking Meringue

Baking meringuecan be trickyonrainy or humiddaysdueto the moisture in the air. However, if youarebaking in an air-conditioned home, the fact that it is raining outside has little effect on the meringue.

One smart thing during the baking of meringue is to open the oven door several times during the baking process. This releases steam accumulated in the oven andwill allow themeringue to dry properly.Meringue will not collapse when the oven door is opened.
Meringue is baked in very low oven temperatures. If baked too high, the meringue will brown on the outside while still being raw in the center(and no one wants that).
Bake meringue until crisp on the outside, and then remove one cookie or piece. Break it in half and let it sit for a minute or so. Then test the center; ifit is no longer sticky, then the meringue is done. Otherwise, returnit totheoven. 
Overbaking is not a concern with meringue as it needs to crisp in and out.  (Unless the oven temperature was too high and it browned.)

CoolingandStoringMeringue

Once the meringue is removed from the oven, it will cool rapidly.
As soon as it has cooled, place it in plastic bags with as much air as possible removed until ready to use. Wrapping in plastic food wrap is not adequate.
See Also
Marshmallow-y Meringues - Mon Mack Food
Store any baked meringue at room temperature.

Now that you know the differences in meringue give one of these fan-favorite meringue recipes a try.

Heart Shaped Meringue Cookies(French)