Swiss Meringue with Raspberries and Almonds
I’ve never made any form of whipped egg white dessert before but these Swiss meringue cookies surprisingly came out as good as I could hope for. The scent of raspberries permeated the cookie and the slivered almonds added a nice textural contrast to the crisp meringue. The low and slow baking temperature also concentrated the flavor of the embedded raspberries, resulting in a tangy red spot of syrupy jam.
There are three major categories in meringue development. Generally speaking with the point of view of a meringue neophyte, the main difference between the three methods lies in the amount of heat applied to the ingredients:
- French Meringue
No heat applied to the ingredients. - Swiss Meringue
Gentle heat applied to the combined egg whites and sugar, usually over a bain-marie or double boiler. - Italian Meringue
Sugar and water are heated to the firm ball stage (246ºF/119ºC to 250ºF/121ºC), creating a hot syrup. The hot syrup is then slowly added to the egg whites right at the beginning of whipping.
In any case, a whole lot of intimacy with my Oxo whisk is required regardless of the method. I’ve never wanted a Kitchenaid more in my life.
Red, White, or Swiss hosted by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte
Swiss Meringue recipe adapted from Michel Suas’ Advanced Bread and Pastry
Swiss Meringue with Raspberries and Almonds
makes approximately 24 cookies
2 1/4 cups sugar (20 ounces/560 grams)
1 1/4 cups egg whites (10 ounces/280 grams)
24 fresh raspberries
slivered toasted almonds, as needed
Notes:
- An instant-read thermometer would be nice but not necessary. Just make sure you don’t end up with scrambled eggs when whipping over the bain-marie.
- The ratio of sugar to egg whites is 2 to 1 by weight. This formula will yield a crisp and firm meringue.
For the Swiss Meringue:
Preheat your oven to 200ºF/93ºC. Prepare all of the ingredients before whipping the egg whites. Also prepare two sheet pans lined with either parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Prepare a bain-marie by simmering water in a saucepan. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Place the bowl over the bain-marie and whip continuously until the egg white and sugar mixture reaches 120ºF/49ºC.
Remove from the heat and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
Pipe (using a pastry bag) or drop (using a large spoon) the meringue onto the prepared sheet pans. A dozen evenly spaced meringue mounds seem to work best for each sheet pan.
Gently place one raspberry and the desired amount of slivered toasted almonds on each meringue mound.
To Bake:
Immediately bake at 200ºF/93ºC for 2 to 3 hours, until the meringue cookies are dry, crisp, and lightly golden brown.
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July 29th, 2008 at 6:18 am
I love meringue – you can do so much with them (pavlovas, sigh). I’ve never made Swiss or Italian meringue, but Swiss sounds a lot friendlier than Italian. Your cookies are really pretty
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July 29th, 2008 at 8:44 am
i’ve never baked meringues before.. but i do like ‘em.. hmmnn.. yours are so beautiful..maybe it’s time for me to try one..the swiss meringues sounds friendlier, indeed.
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July 29th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I don’t know why you were surprised that these turned out well — you never seem to have a miss. If I haven’t mentioned before how much I like your blog, consider it mentioned. Well done!
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July 29th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Ohh..that sweets look so smoothly crunchy, next time maybe french macaron?
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July 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
[...] July 29, 2008, 1:44 pm Filed under: Apple Pie Patis & Pâté Swiss Meringue with raspberries and almonds from Apple Pie Patis & [...]
July 29th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
“In any case, a whole lot of intimacy with my Oxo whisk is required regardless of the method. I’ve never wanted a Kitchenaid more in my life.”
LOL. Yeah, after a few times of being a martyr like that, one realizes that machines were invented for a reason.
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July 29th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
didn’t have much luck too the first time i made meringue…your recipe sounds better though, maybe i should give it another go:) pretty interesting turn out too!
July 29th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Ah! Beautiful! And thanks for explaining the different types of meringue so simply!
I avoid meringue like the plague around here in the summer – when it’s in the 90s, and the humidity is in the 90s, meringue-making is lunacy.
last blog post: TWD – A Luscious White Peach Galette
July 29th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
That’s a real classic, Jude, well done!
If you really don’t want to sacrifice counter space and $$ for a KitchenAid and you work with a lot of eggs, an inexpensive handmixer’s the next best thing. I dunno, it must be my lack of arm stamina, but even whipping cream makes me go, “Oh, f— this,” and I reach for the mixer. The only thing I’m not able to do is use the dough hook, which I don’t mind for the most part
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July 29th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
These look so good. I didn’t realize what the differences in the meringues were–interesting. I have made meringues only once–French style. Yours with the raspberry look so pretty.
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July 29th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
What a great picture of stiff peaks. I hv always wondered abt the consistency myself. That’s a good tip!
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July 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
You make it look and sound so easy. They are so lovely and so delicate. Gorgeous.
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July 29th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I love your discription of the raspberries in the finished meringues. I have to give these a try.
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July 30th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Love meringue! I always use Davidson’s Pasteurized Eggs for this kind of thing since I serve people of all ages and with a variety of conditions. Can’t take a chance on someone getting sick!
July 30th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Wow I can’t believe you actually whisked that all by hand. This reminds me of a cookie my grandma use to make all the time. I love those little buggers and probably ate more coming out of the oven than actually got served to everyone else.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Niiice research. I’ve always wondered about the differing meringue styles. These sound rather divine.
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July 30th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
i <3 meringues. add the raspberries and almonds and i’m in heaven.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Those meringues look good! I like the raspberries on them. Thanks for the meringue info.
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July 30th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
dee – Swiss definitely sounds a bit easier for me. Wouldn’t want hot syrup on my forearm.
jescel – Thanks! The French meringue is friendly, too. Just need to use pasteurized egg whites.
susan – It’s always been intimidating for me. i’m glad I finally tried making it.
zita – I have my eye on a few French macaron recipes
ts – I’m just glad it worked. Would’ve been ticked off if it didn’t end up working.
ces – Pretty light and airy. The almonds went great with it.
madam – Didn’t even think about the humidity. Maybe that’s why it took a while to get stiff peaks.
manggy – I’d rather hand knead doughs, too. Was thinking of getting a hand mixer but it’s a pride thing. And I’m also broke.
deb – Glad you found the differences interesting.
daphne – It probably could’ve been stiffer but I was done at that point.
dragon – It wasn’t easy. My arm was shaking
maggie – Hope you like it!
britt – I was going to mention the use of pasteurized eggs but I didn’t bother because they were going to be baked. Will definitely use pasteurized if I use the French method.
jeff – Can’t have just one for sure.
rainbow – Glad it’s kind of helpful
becky – I feel like making another batch.
kevin – Next time I’ll put in 3-4 raspberries.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:54 am
Awesome meringues. Funny in Switzerland the French version is more common. Did you know that the name Meringues comes from a Swiss village called Meiringen. You find the story here: http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/guide/berner_oberland/meringue.html
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August 4th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Lovely meringues! I’ve seen plenty of meringues with berries on top, but never baked in! Clever
December 11th, 2008 at 9:28 am
the meringues look so festive, they would be perfect for the holiday cookies tray.
January 20th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
[...] Apple Pie, Patis, & Pate says that the ratio of sugar to egg whites for Swiss meringue is 2:1 by weight. (By volume, several websites say 4 Tbsp per egg white.) A little acid, in the form of cream of tartar or white vinegar, is good for French meringue; I don’t know if Swiss meringue makes that obsolete, but I have some so I’ll give it a shot. I also think cornstarch is a good idea because it absorbs moisture so the meringues don’t come out too sticky. So my recipe ended up like this: [...]
June 7th, 2010 at 11:57 am
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December 22nd, 2010 at 10:13 pm
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