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Italian Meringues
Boil a pound of the finest lump sugar in a pint of water. When it has boiled long enough to whiten and become flaky as it drops from the spoon, scrape from the sides of the pan any sugar that may be adhering, and stir in six whites of eggs, which have been whisked to the stiffest possible froth; do this very gradually and slowly, at the same time mixing the mass as briskly as possible to make it smooth. Continue to stir until the mixture is firm enough to retain the shape of a tea-spoon, in which it is now to be moulded. Slip the meringues quickly off on paper, and harden in a gentle oven, that they may retain their delicate whiteness. Almonds are sometimes pounded and mixed with the eggs and sugar. These are very superior to the plain meringues, but they will require more care in baking, and they will take a longer time; they should be crisp, and only lightly browned. Blanch and pound the almonds. Time, twenty to thirty minutes. Probable cost, 1s. for this quantity. (See also MERINGUES.)
This is the classic Italian meringue method — a hot sugar syrup beaten into stiff whites — written before thermometers were standard kitchen equipment. Everything hinges on the syrup stage.
- The syrup stage"Whitens and becomes flaky as it drops from the spoon" is an old spoon test for a syrup somewhere about the feather/soft-ball degree, usually put at around 240F on a modern thermometer, though the old visual tests do not map exactly onto thermometer readings. Boiled too little, the meringue will not set; boiled much further, the sugar begins to harden and colour before it can be beaten in.
- A pint of water is a lotOne pound of sugar to a pint (20 fl oz imperial, about 2.5 US cups) means a long boil simply to drive the water off. Less water reaches the same stage sooner, with the same result.
- Lump sugarLump or loaf sugar was refined cane sugar broken from a cone or block, prized for purity. Ordinary granulated sugar is its direct equivalent today.
- Do not scrape the sides inThe instruction to scrape adhering sugar from the pan is the one point to ignore. Those crystals will seed the syrup and turn it grainy; brush the sides down with a wet pastry brush during boiling instead, and leave the syrup alone once it is at temperature.
- Adding the syrupPour it in a thin steady stream against the side of the bowl with the whites beating continuously — a stand mixer on medium-high does what the original expects of a strong arm. Beat until the bowl is barely warm and the mixture holds a shape.
- "A gentle oven"For drying meringues, a modern oven at its lowest setting, around 200-225F, with the door propped slightly ajar if it runs hot; a Victorian "gentle" oven would generally have been warmer than that. This is drying, not baking; colour means the oven is too warm.
- TimingTwenty to thirty minutes will give a crisp shell over a soft centre. For meringues dry through, allow one to two hours at 200F and then leave them in the switched-off oven to cool.
- With almondsSweet blanched almonds, pounded to a paste or very fine meal, weigh the mixture down and hold moisture — hence the longer, more careful bake. Fold them in at the end rather than beating them through.
- YieldSix whites and a pound of sugar make a great deal of meringue. The recipe gives the probable cost as 1s. for the quantity.
Meringue made with boiling syrup rather than raw sugar is still called meringue italienne in French professional kitchens, distinguishing it from the plain "French" meringue of whites and dry sugar and the "Swiss" version warmed over a water bath. The Italian attribution is traditional rather than documented; the technique is generally said to have spread through nineteenth-century English cookery from French practice. The syrup does real work: it partly cooks the whites, giving a mixture stable enough to be moulded with a teaspoon and held for some time before it goes into the oven — a considerable advantage in a household kitchen where whisking six whites to "the stiffest possible froth" by hand was a serious undertaking, and where the oven might well be occupied.