Italian Meringue

Italian meringue is a type of meringue made by whisking hot sugar syrup into beaten egg whites. This method creates a stable and glossy meringue that holds its shape well, making it ideal for piping and decorating and being a key component in many classic desserts. We love to top our cruffins, croissants, tarts, and cakes with this meringue and can be flavoured in many ways.

Using percentages in your recipe is a great approach to ensure that it can be easily scaled for any batch size. This method provides consistency and precision, which is especially important in baking and confectionery, where accurate measurements are crucial for successful results.

Ingredients

  • Egg Whites: 100 g (about 5 egg whites)

  • Sugar: 200 g

  • Water: 60 g

Formula

  • Egg Whites: 100%

  • Sugar: 200%

  • Water: 60%

Method

  1. There are many ways to make meringue, specifically Italian Meringue. I am going to show you, in my opinion, the most efficient method without overcomplicating the process.

  2. Generally, when I am making Italian Meringue, I never have a written recipe. I always use the ratios in the formula that I have as my recipe. This is the easiest way to scale the recipe when you are in the middle of production. I have been in situations where one day, we need 500 g of meringue or 2 kg.

  3. To begin, add the sugar and water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Using a thermometer, heat up the syrup till it reaches 240F.

  4. Once it reaches 240F, start mixing the egg whites on medium speed in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.

  5. When the syrup reaches 245-250F, turn the mixer on medium-high and very carefully pour the syrup down the sides of the mixing bowl. Be very careful not to pour the syrup on top of the moving whisk. This will fling the hot syrup around, which could burn you but also will cause crystallization and your meringue will have chunks of crystallized sugar.

  6. Once all the syrup has been added, turn the mixer on at high speed and mix until you reach the desired peaks or until room temperature/desired temperature. For stiff peaks, it takes about 6-8 minutes, but mixers differ.

  7. Use immediately, pipe onto tarts, cakes, cruffins, etc.

  8. If you are in a situation where you need to hold a meringue without actively using it, leave it in continuously mixing on low.