Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

It is exhausting to crack open a pastry cookbook with out encountering no less than one recipe that requires using French meringue. Because the seventeenth century, cooks have been utilizing it as a pure leavening agent (an ingredient that gives rise and construction) for every kind of desserts, together with angel meals cake, souffle, pavlova, baked Alaska, Eton mess and baked meringue cookies, simply to call just a few.

French meringue is likely one of the most straightforward, but mysterious parts on this planet of pastry. It consists of solely 4 components: egg whites, sugar, acid, and salt. These components alone could appear unremarkable, however when mixed along with probably the most vital component, forceful whipping, they change into a marvel of chemistry and confection.

There are entire chapters of books dedicated to the science concerned, however for the sake of brevity, this is the short and soiled model. Egg whites are largely composed of water and proteins. Once they’re crushed, the usually tightly wound-up proteins (largely ovalbumin) start to unravel and stretch out, permitting them to hyperlink up with one another. This community of protein reinforces tiny air bubbles shaped within the watery whites, making a thick foam. As you proceed to beat, the protein-strengthened partitions of those bubbles are stretched thinner and thinner as increasingly more air is launched till a vital ratio of air to water within the foam is reached. Instantly, the partitions start to fail and the meringue takes on a damaged look just like boring, lumpy clouds. The addition of acid (usually, cream of tartar) helps strengthen the bonds between proteins, whereas sugar provides viscosity to the water, each of which make for stronger bubbles and stop this lumpiness from occurring.

What does all this imply to you, the cook dinner? When making meringue, vigilance is vital, which implies watching the egg whites fastidiously as they whip, including the opposite components on the correct instances, and including the sugar steadily and in small quantities, to make sure that you’re stabilizing the meringue whereas the sugar dissolves correctly into the combination. Cooks use all kinds of various approaches when making a French meringue, none of that are unsuitable, however I’ve discovered that the one right here yields a reliably steady meringue with only a few suggestions.

Fastidiously Separate the Eggs

Clear and full separation is vital for acquiring quantity when whipping egg whites for meringue. A comparatively small quantity of yolk will trigger the meringue to be flat and ineffective. To make certain that you will not damage a whole batch, separate the whites from the yolks one by one in a separate bowl, then add them to the blending bowl after every separation. This fashion, in the event you break one, you may have solely wasted one egg (however go forward and have it for breakfast as a substitute!)

Whip to Tender or Agency Peaks, as Wanted

Totally different recipes will name for both comfortable peaks or agency peaks. As soon as the meringue seems large, shiny, and thick, cease the mixer and verify to see if the meringue is at comfortable peak stage by dipping the whisk vertically into the bowl and pulling it up straight, then flipping it over. A “comfortable peak” will start to slowly hunch over whereas a agency peak won’t transfer. In case you are whipping to comfortable peaks, the meringue will start to droop over a bit after being held sideways for 5 seconds. For agency peaks, the meringue mustn’t transfer throughout this check. If the meringue has not reached the specified consistency, proceed whipping at excessive velocity for one more 30 seconds to 1 minute, then cease and check once more.

July 2011