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Meringues and Kisses
2 egg-whites 1/2 cup powdered sugar Pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon flavoring Beat the egg-whites stiff, adding the salt. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly, and heap in rounds or press through a pastry bag on to a wet board covered with an ungreased paper.
Bake on the board in a very slow oven (320 degrees F.) for three-quarters of an hour. The kisses should be very light brown and quite dry. If they adhere to the paper, moisten the other side of the paper by placing it on a wet cloth, and they will slip off easily.
The smaller shapes or kisses may be stuck together in pairs with a little white of egg, and the meringues, which are usually made larger, may be scooped out and filled with ice-cream or whipped cream.
A plain hard-meringue formula from the era before stand mixers and parchment paper. Two details govern success: the sugar-to-white ratio, which is lower than modern practice, and the very low oven, which dries rather than bakes.
- Sugar ratioHalf a cup of powdered sugar is about 60 g against roughly 66 g of white from two large eggs, near a 1:1 ratio. Most current hard-meringue recipes use closer to 2:1 sugar to white, which gives a crisper, more stable shell that holds its shape longer; at this ratio expect a lighter, more fragile result that softens quickly.
- Powdered sugarCommercial confectioners' sugar usually contains up to about 3 percent cornstarch as an anticaking agent, which was not universal in 1900. It works here and may slightly stiffen the foam, but superfine granulated sugar dissolves cleanly and gives a glossier meringue if you beat it in slowly.
- The oven320F is what the book calls very slow, and it is at the high end for meringue. Three-quarters of an hour at that heat will color them, as the recipe expects. For white, wholly dry meringues, cooks now hold 200-225F for an hour and a half to two hours and leave them in the switched-off oven to finish drying.
- The wet boardThe damp board under ungreased paper was presumably a way to keep the bottoms from scorching on a fierce coal range, and it would also help the paper release. Parchment or a silicone mat on a light-colored sheet pan does both jobs; skip the board and the water entirely.
- Releasing themThe trick of laying the paper on a wet cloth still works if meringues stick, but a fully dried meringue lifts off parchment without help. Sticking is a sign they came out too soon.
- FlavoringHalf a teaspoon means an extract: vanilla, almond, or rose water were the usual choices. Use an alcohol-based or water-based extract, not an oil, which will deflate the foam.
- HumidityMeringues draw moisture from the air. On a damp day they will stay tacky no matter how long they bake, and they need an airtight tin the moment they cool.
- Yield and fillingTwo whites give roughly two dozen small kisses or eight to ten meringue shells. Fill shells only at the moment of serving, or the cream will soften them within the half hour.