Meringues

There are three different types of meringues. Each is used differently in pastry making.


French Meringue
Raw sugar is beaten into egg whites creating a meringue that is high in volume and low in stability. Because it is made with raw eggs it needs to be baked. This type of meringue is usually folded into a cake batter such as a chiffon cake. It can be mixed with a nut flour, piped, and put into the oven to dry out producing a crunchy layer that can be added to a cake. This is essentially a dacquoise and I used it in the dacquiose cake with coffee buttercream and marjolaine cake.

Italian Meringue
Water and sugar is boiled until 235 degrees Fahrenheit (soft ball stage) and then beaten into egg whites. The egg whites cook in the hot syrup. This method produced a meringue that has medium volume and medium stability. Since it doesn't need to be baked it is used in mousses and buttercreams. This method was used in my Raspberry Mousse Miroir cake.

Swiss Meringue
Egg whites and sugar are heated over a bain marie until it reaches 130 degrees Fahrenheit and then beaten. This meringue has the least volume out of the three methods yet it is the most stable. Since the eggs have already been cooked it does not need to be baked. This meringue is used in the lemon tart showed above.