The French, the French again!Whenever the conversation turns to something unusually tasty, light, exquisitely elegant, the French are right there. Where would we be without them, talented and inventive cooks and unrivaled confectioners? Even from such a prosaic product as an egg, they managed to create something sublimely cloudy, airy-weightless and incredibly tasty - meringue. After all, some French confectioner guessed to beat the egg white with sugar, turning it into the most delicate cream. And the second French inventor came up with the idea of baking this cream and got an equally masterpiece - weightless, divinely delicious "dough" for cookies, pastries and cakes. In theory, many know how to make meringue. But not everyone understands how to implement it in practice. And even that representative of the fair half who did cook meringue (cream for cake or tubes, meringue in the microwave or in the oven) probably encountered some difficulties or surprises. The fact is that both protein cream and protein dough are very capricious. So let's find out how to cook meringue at home.
Beze in French
If you have never prepared this magicalcream, then it's time to turn to the experience of the French. Their method of making meringue is the simplest. The protein mass prepared this way turns out strong and fluffy, but quite heavy. Therefore, you need to cook cakes from it in the oven or in the microwave without any special tricks - just oval cakes. They will "float" during baking anyway. But in raw form, decorations made from such meringue hold their shape quite well. Ingredients:
- Egg whites
- Salt
- Sugar or sugar powder
Preparation:Take the whites of two eggs, pour them into a saucepan or a bowl, add a pinch of salt and start beating with a mixer or whisk. In fact, you can even do this with a fork, but it will take a long time. So, beat the whites into a strong foam. How can you tell if the foam has hardened? There are two proven methods. In the first case, just try to slowly and carefully turn the pan with the whites upside down. If the foam does not try to flow down the walls, but holds tightly in the pan, the whites are ready. In the second case, just put a knife or fork in the center of the pan with the white foam (with the prongs or the tip on the bottom). In a firmly beaten foam, both the knife and fork will stand firmly without the help of your hands. So, having beaten the whites to a state of strong foam, begin to gradually add powdered sugar or sugar to them, continuing to beat. You will need about two hundred grams of powder per white. However, the exact amount of powder is determined "by eye", since it needs to be added to the whites up to a certain point - the appearance of the so-called "stiff peaks". This is when the cream does not fall from the mixer or whisk raised up, and the peaks ("icicles" of meringue) do not bend under their own weight. Note: To prepare meringue, you need to take only chilled egg whites! This is an indispensable condition for a successful result. And one more indispensable condition - the whites must be carefully separated from the yolks. Even a tiny part of the yolk, getting into the whites for whipping, will nullify all your efforts. By the way, when choosing a bowl for whipping, keep in mind that the volume of whipped whites will increase four times.
Bézé in Italian
The main difference of the Italian methodmeringue preparation – using sugar syrup instead of sugar. It is believed that meringue prepared in this way produces the ideal protein cream. Ingredients:
- Egg whites (2 pcs.)
- Sugar syrup (about 300 g)
- Citric acid or lemon juice
Preparation: First, cook the sugar syrup:for two parts sugar, one part water, a little lemon juice. For meringue from two egg whites, take two hundred grams of sugar per one hundred grams of water. Beat the egg whites into a firm foam and, continuing to beat, pour in the hot syrup in a thin stream. Beat the cream until the mass has completely cooled. Note: Italian meringue is great as a filling or layer for cakes and pastries: it holds its shape well and does not flow when in contact with butter cream and jam.
Beze in Swiss
This meringue is the best of the best:the strongest, the densest, the most durable. It is suitable for figured protein cookies and it is from it that cream flowers, leaves and patterns for cakes are made. Ingredients:
- Egg whites
- Granulated sugar
- Lemon juice
Preparation:The Swiss method of making meringue is, of course, labor-intensive. But where has ours not disappeared? We will master it too. We arrange a water bath for our meringue: we put the dishes with egg whites and sugar (one egg white - one glass of sugar) on a saucepan with boiling water. The bottom of the saucepan should be heated only by the steam and not touch the water. We begin to beat the egg whites first at the lowest speed of the mixer until all the sugar has dissolved. And then we increase the speed and beat until ready, getting a white, dense, thick cream at the end.
Beze in the microwave
Having learned how to make cream, let's see howhow to properly prepare meringue for meringues - protein cakes. We will bake meringues in a microwave oven, since this process is noticeably faster in a microwave oven, and many housewives are more familiar with it than with an oven. Ingredients:
- Egg whites (3 pcs.)
- Sugar-sand (glass)
- Salt
- Lemon juice
Preparation: Prepare French meringue:First, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gradually add sugar or powdered sugar. Beat the "dough" until stiff peaks form, then add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Now let's start baking. You can place the finished meringue in paper baking baskets, or line the microwave rack with baking paper and spoon the meringue flatbreads onto it. Place the cakes in the oven and turn it on at full power. It only takes a couple of minutes to cook meringue in the microwave at full power. However, you will still need to wait until the meringues cool completely in the microwave. Remove the cooled cakes from the oven, sprinkle with chocolate or coconut flakes, pour syrup over them, or spread with butter cream. By the way, the famous "Air Cakes" are are nothing more than meringues with butter cream, and Leningradskoe cookies are meringues with biscuit. Note: If you cook meringues not in the microwave, but in the oven, then it will take incomparably more time to bake them - about an hour. However, the technology remains the same and is no different from baking meringues in the microwave. Sometimes meringues for meringues are made with starch or flour.
Interesting Facts
- From the French word "meringue" is translated as a "kiss."
- In pre-revolutionary Russia, meringue was called the "Spanish wind".
- In the cookery of the Soviet Union, they sold surprisingly tasty "Air cakes" from dried meringues, and the famous "Kiev" cake based on the meringue cake was a terrible deficit.
- Cake-meringue mentions in his "Notes of the Hunter" Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
- A classic Australian dessert - a cake of "bezeynyh" cakes - is named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.
- Of the protein cakes baked at home, the most popular was and remains the cake "The Secret of an Actress" or "The Surprise of an Actress", based on a meringue and oil cream.
Well, ladies, knowing how to do it rightmake meringue at home, get imbued with the significance of these facts and make something sweet as a kiss, light as a Spanish wind, fragile as a ballerina, airy as a cloud for dessert – meringue (in a word). We recommend reading:
