Italian meringue recipe

90 grams of egg white

45 grams of fine sugar (A)

70 grams of purified water

220 grams of fine sugar (B) step

① Beat the egg whites

Beat the egg whites, and add part A of the fine sugar to the egg whites in three batches. So how to beat egg whites well?

Here is a little tip. Freeze the egg whites for 20 minutes before beating them. You can easily beat them to the ideal state without worrying about overbeating. Why is this?

Because the lower the temperature of the egg white, the more delicate and solid bubbles it can create. At the same time, when we make cakes at home, the amount of egg whites is very small, but we need to use an electric egg beater to beat it at high speed to make it expand.

The electric egg beater will generate heat when beating at high speed. At this time, if you freeze the egg whites and then beat them, you can easily beat the egg whites to a firm state, and the stability is also long-lasting, so you don’t have to worry about defoaming. And I was in a hurry. Why whip meringue?

Whether it is beating egg whites manually, using a hand-held electric egg beater, or using a chef's machine to beat egg whites. Our goal is to let air enter the protein, thereby producing a large number of bubbles and forming a tight tissue. Therefore, in actual operation, the egg white beating and technique are very important.

When whipping manually, hold the mixer gently, use your wrist to turn quickly and make three-dimensional circles, as if the mixer is tapping the basin, and you can mix smoothly.

When operating with a hand-held electric egg beater or a kitchen mixer, start at high speed, then beat until the volume becomes larger, then change to medium speed, and finally change to low speed, so that even and fine bubbles can be produced. Why do you need to add sugar when beating egg whites?

While beating the egg whites, we also need to add the corresponding proportion of sugar together and beat.

The purpose of adding sugar is to allow the water in the protein to be absorbed by the sugar, so that the bubble film is not easily destroyed and can become a more stable state. Sugar also inhibits the air denaturation of the protein in the protein, making it less likely to be Whip, so we have to add fine sugar in three batches at the right time. Which three stages are most suitable for adding fine sugar?

A: First, break up the egg whites to create large bubbles, then add the first fine sugar.

B: Secondly, as the whipping process continues, the large bubbles turn into dense small bubbles. When the color begins to turn white, add the second fine sugar.

C: Third, lift the egg whites with the egg beater, and when there is a big hook, add the third amount of fine sugar.

Finally, the egg whites are shiny. When the egg beater is lifted, the texture is upright and sharp, fine and firm. The egg whites will not fall out when the egg beater is turned upside down. Or insert a chopstick into it, and the chopsticks will work. Standing upright, this means that the egg whites have been beaten well and you can proceed to the next step.

② Boil the syrup

Pour the water into the fine sugar B according to the recipe. Be careful not to stir. Boil over low heat until the syrup temperature is around 120 degrees. Why boil granulated sugar into syrup?

Because the ratio of egg whites to sugar in the formula of Italian meringue is basically in the range of one to two to one to three. The sugar is equivalent to two to three times the weight of the egg whites. If this amount is Add the sugar directly. The sugar will absorb the moisture of the egg whites and make it impossible to whip the egg whites.

In this case, the fine sugar will be put into enough melted water to be heated and boiled to 118 to 120 degrees to evaporate the water. The syrup will still have a strong viscosity in this state. Cool it down. Afterwards, the viscosity becomes stronger, so the shape retention of the whipped egg whites becomes better. Why can't all caster sugar be boiled down into syrup?

Because the egg whites are beaten with sugar and then hot syrup is added, a meringue with a fine texture can be made.

When hot syrup is added to the whipped egg whites, the air in the bubbles will increase in volume due to thermal expansion, making the bubbles larger. Because of this change, it is very important to make small bubbles with your feet at the initial stage. .

In order to create small bubbles, it is better to add sugar when initially beating the egg whites. Because adding sugar to the egg whites will make it difficult to beat. Instead, it will be difficult to beat the egg whites with air. After making relatively small bubbles, add hot syrup, the bubbles will not be too large, and you can make A delicate Italian meringue.

Without a thermometer, how can I tell when the syrup temperature reaches about 120 degrees?

A: Observe the state of the bubbles after the syrup boils. When the syrup is boiling, the bubbles have no viscosity and will only start to become viscous when heated to about 110 degrees. Finally, as the water evaporates, the viscosity becomes stronger and stronger, and the bubbles become smaller. Around 118 degrees, the bubbles become a group of bubbles of the same size.

In other words, when the bubbles change from large bubbles to medium bubbles, and finally to fine and evenly distributed small bubbles, it means that the syrup is ready.

B: The syrup will form a ball in the cold water. Use chopsticks to pick up a little syrup and put it into the cold water. If it forms a ball, it means the syrup is ready. Use chopsticks to mix a little syrup into cold water. If it forms a ball, it means the syrup is ready.

③Mix and stir

Pour the cooked syrup into the meringue. Be careful to pour it slowly and do not pour it on the whisk head and the wall of the basin.

When pouring the syrup, the electric egg beater should be stirred continuously to fully beat the syrup into the meringue. After stirring evenly, continue to pour the syrup. Pour all the syrup in two or three times. enter.

During the beating process, the egg beater will feel resistance, which means it has been beaten. If you touch it with your hand, you will feel that the temperature of the container has changed from hot to lukewarm. This also means that the meringue has been beaten. Why must the meringue be beaten before the temperature is lowered?

The bubbles of protein are easily destroyed at high temperatures. Once the temperature decreases, the surface tension becomes stronger and will not be easily destroyed. Moreover, the boiled syrup will also become excessively sticky after cooling.

After adding hot syrup to the hard-beaten egg whites and whipping them to the ideal foaming state, you must reduce the speed of the mixer and beat with a mixed feeling until the heat drops slightly.

④Bake

Put the whipped meringue into a piping bag and squeeze it into lovely meringues. You can also add your favorite color, pick a little bit of color with a toothpick, and adjust the color. After squeezing out the look you like. Enter the oven.

Preheat the oven to 100 degrees in advance, be careful not to exceed 100 degrees, and bake for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes, take out the baked meringue from the oven. If it is dry and non-stick, it means it has been baked successfully. Put the meringue into a container and seal it, just don't get wet!