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Meringue
Whites 2 eggs. 2 tablespoons powdered sugar ¼ teaspoon vanilla Beat the whites until stiff; fold in sugar and add flavoring.
A pie-topping meringue reduced to its bones. The book assumes you already know how many whites you are working with and that the pie goes back into the oven, so both need filling in.
- How many whitesThe quantity is left out. Two tablespoons of sugar would suit roughly two egg whites at the leaner ratios common in books of this era, though they vary; modern practice is closer to 2 tablespoons of sugar per white, so use 4 tablespoons for two whites if you want a meringue that holds and browns without weeping.
- "Powdered sugar"In books of this vintage powdered sugar usually means finely milled granulated sugar, not the cornstarch-blended confectioners' sugar sold now. Superfine or caster sugar is the closest match; confectioners' sugar will work but gives a slightly chalkier set.
- The hinge is when the sugar goes inAdding all the sugar to fully stiff whites, as written, tends to knock them down and leave undissolved grains that bead into syrup on top of the pie. Beat to soft peaks, add the sugar a spoonful at a time while beating, then finish to stiff, glossy peaks and fold in the vanilla.
- Clean bowl, no yolkAny fat -- a fleck of yolk, an oily bowl, a plastic bowl that has held butter -- keeps whites from rising. Glass, metal or ceramic, and whites at room temperature, whip highest.
- Baking, which the recipe omitsSpread over a hot filling and seal the meringue to the pastry rim all the way round; that is what stops it shrinking away and sliding. Bake at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes for an evenly set topping, or 425F for 4 to 5 minutes if you want dark peaks and a softer interior.
- Egg safetyA quick browning does not bring the interior of a meringue to a pasteurizing temperature. If raw egg is a concern for anyone eating it, use pasteurized whites; a longer, lower bake reduces the risk but does not guarantee the interior is pasteurized.
- YieldEnough to cover one 8- or 9-inch pie thinly. For a tall, showy meringue, count on three or four whites and sugar in proportion.
The Metropolitan Cook Book was one of the free household booklets distributed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to its policyholders, part of a broader early twentieth-century campaign in which insurers gave out advice on diet, hygiene and child care as a form of public health work. That explains the recipe's brevity: it is a component, written for readers assumed to have made meringue before. The name is French, and the dish is generally traced to continental confectionery of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; the often-repeated story that it takes its name from the Swiss town of Meiringen, or from a pastry cook called Gasparini working there, is traditional rather than documented. Its place in American home baking is often connected with the lemon and cream pie, which left cooks with spare whites and a filling that wanted covering.