How to Decorate With Meringue

Meringue can be made with various colors for decorating.

Meringue makes a beautiful cake or pie topping, but it can also make a beautiful cookie or decorating elements by itself. Adding food coloring while you're whipping the meringue creates dreamy pastel hues for decorating. You can also create striped confections, but simple white is always an elegant way to go, especially for wedding decorations.



A pastry bag with tips of various sizes and shapes is the only special piece of equipment you'll need. If possible, don't make meringue on a humid day.

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or another flavor)
• Heatproof mixing bowl
• Pot
• Water
• Pastry bag with decorative tips
• Food coloring (optional)

Instructions

Making the Meringue

1. Preheat your oven to 175 or 200 degrees F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the mixing bowl, over a pot of simmering water, until the sugar dissolves. Make sure the mixing bowl is heatproof.

3. Use a candy thermometer to test the temperature. Once the mixture is 106 degrees F, remove from heat.

4. Whisk with an electronic mixer for approximately 10 minutes, adding vanilla and food coloring, if desired, towards the end. You want the meringue to be cool and have shiny, firm peaks. At this point you should use it immediately.

Decorating Techniques

1. Put the meringue into the pastry bag with one of the decorative tips attached.

2. Drip a few drops of food coloring down the side of the pastry bag, if you want to create a colored stripe.

3. Squeeze the meringue out through the tip onto the parchment paper, experimenting with tips of different sizes and shapes to create flower petals, leaves, stars and shell shapes.

4. Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. The meringue should be dry, but not browned. Cool on parchment paper over a wire rack before eating or placing on top of cakes or other desserts.

References

• Martha Stewart: Baked Meringue Bouquet
• Martha Stewart: Swiss Meringue
• The Kitchn: How To Make Meringue Stars, Kisses & Cookies