Easy basic meringue
- Published: 31 May 07
- Updated: 26 May 25
Think meringue is too fiddly or time consuming to make from scratch? Think again! You’re just three ingredients away from making perfect meringues every time with this easy basic meringue recipe.
- Perfect proportions: This recipe can easily to doubled to make more meringues or nests – just follow the proportions carefully.
- Flexible recipe: Use as a base for a pavlova or see Tips for how to create meringue nests. It’s a blank canvas: top with whipped cream and fresh fruit, sliced bananas and toffee sauce or whatever you fancy!
- Easy variations: We’ve used vanilla extract to add flavour, but see the ideas below for easy twists on the recipe, including coconut and chocolate meringues.
Simple and foolproof, this recipe is a user favourite. Here’s what one cook had to say:
- “I’ve tried lots of meringue recipes before that haven’t worked so well, but this one works extremely well! The secret seems to be to add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, and whisking well in between. The meringues puffed up beautifully (and stayed that way), and were lovely and crisp on the outside, slightly soft in the centre.”
When you’ve mastered the basic recipe, be inspired by the ideas in our best meringue collection, including fruity pavlovas, pies and classic eton mess.
-
Serves 6 -
Hands-on time 15 min, oven time 1 hour 15 min-1 hour 30min, plus cooling
Before you start
It’s really important to make sure your bowl is spotlessly clean when whisking egg whites – even a tiny amount of grease will stop the whites from stiffening up. It’s best to avoid plastic bowls as they’re the most likely to harbour fats or oils from a previous recipe.
Wondering whether the sugar has been properly mixed into your egg whites? Take a pinch of mixture and rub it between your thumb and finger – if it feels grainy, it needs mixing a little more.
If you want a neater finish to your meringues, transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a wide nozzle and pipe it onto the baking tray.
Nutrition
- Calories
- 121kcals
- Fat
- trace (trace saturated)
- Protein
- 1.6g
- Carbohydrates
- 30.6g (30.6g sugars)
- Salt
- 0.1g
delicious. tips
Watch our handy to video to see how these easy basic meringues are made:
You can also see this method in this video by kitchen appliance brand Fisher & Paykel:
Make the meringues up to a day in advance. Keep in an airtight container somewhere cool.
To make these meringues into nests, make the recipe up until the end of step 2 (dolloping the meringues onto the lined baking sheet). Using the back of a metal spoon, press the centre of each meringue down, making a shallow hollow and creating a ‘nest effect’. Continue with step 3.
Copper bowls are good for making meringue because a chemical reaction helps prevent over-whipping.
Have patience with the process of adding the sugar – if you add it too quickly, it won’t integrate properly and may seep from the bottom of the meringue during cooking.
Here’s how to vary the flavour of your meringues. After whisking to stiff peaks, gently fold through additions, being careful not to knock air out of the meringue.
Coconut: Add 1/2 tsp coconut essence and 25g desiccated coconut, lightly toasted in a dry pan.
Chocolate: Add 30g of cocoa powder, sifted.
Chocolate swirl: Drizzle 25g melted dark chocolate into the meringue mixture, then quickly fold, once or twice, to swirl the chocolate through the meringue.
Crunchy almond: Whizz 75g roasted and cooled blanched almonds coarsely in a food processor (take care not process too finely or the nuts will become oily and affect the meringue). If you don’t have a food processor chop the nuts very finely with a sharp knife. Mix through the meringue mixture.