E N D
Maringues By Chef .Siraj Shaikh When eggs are beaten, air becomes trapped within the proteins, which then expand when heated. This trapped air pushes on the batter as it heated up. The pressure increases as the heat increases, and the food expands and rises. Egg with air beaten into them are known as egg foams and can be the basis for cakes, soufflés, meringues, frostings, mousses, and even candies. Mixtures of egg white foams and sugar are known as meringues.
Types of Meringues : The texture of meringues can range anywhere from soft and airy to firm and crisp. The amount of sugar added to an egg foam and the degree to which it is heated determines how hard or firm. There are three types of meringues. Each one has a different level of stability and stiffness. They are French meringues, Swiss meringues, and Italian meringues.
French meringues French meringues are also known as common meringues and are the simplest of the three types. French meringues can be used to top desserts like lemon meringues pie or for a baked Alaska. • Soft French meringues – 1:1-ratio of sugar & egg white. • Firm French meringues – 2:1-ratio of sugar & egg white.
Swiss meringues It is made by warming the egg whites and sugar over a hot water bath before beating them. The heat helps the sugar crystals dissolve, foaming a thick liquid that surrounds and protects each air bubble within the meringue. Swiss meringues are generally used to prepare cake frosting such as butter cream and cookies.
Italian meringues • Italian meringues are central to many frostings, cookies, and confectioneries, such as marshmallows. In an Italian meringues, boiling sugar syrup is heated to 240 to 250 F. It is then expand in volume and grow fully and light. The boiling sugar syrup cooks the proteins in the egg white so that they become set, which helps make the Italian meringue the most stable type meringues.
Hints for good meringues • Make certain that the egg white are at room temperature. • Make sure the bowl and the whip/whisk to the electric mixer are grease-free and dry. grease prevents egg white from foaming. • Add lemon juice or cream of tartar [Powdered potassium hydrogen tartar ] to egg white that have been beaten until thick and foamy. Acid helps to create a more stable meringue . Acid and cream of tartar have no effect on the actual volume of a meringues. • Sugar is added gradually after the egg white reach the soft peak stage. If the sugar is added too early, it can weigh down the egg whites, preventing them from reaching their full volume. • Meringues made in copper bowl produce a creamier, yellowish meringues that differs from the pure white meringues produced in stainless steel bowls with cream of tartar.
Under beaten and overeaten egg whites Egg whites that are either under beaten or over beaten can ruin a recipe. Under beaten egg whites allow liquid from within the egg foam to leak out because the protein network is not strong enough to keep it within.Eggwhite that are under beaten will collapse. Overeaten whites tend to look like soap bubbles, dry and tight. This is similar to whole egg proteins that curdle. Try not to overeaten egg white because the protein get too close and push out any moisture, leaving a very dry egg foam.
siraj Thank you