Meringue Cookies

[gingerfreak]

I've never made meringues before but with a bunch of egg whites left over from Christmas thought I'd give them a try..

I used Nick Malgieri's recipe for Espresso Walnut Meringues, which calls for 4 egg whites and a cup of sugar, plus 1 1/4 cup of walnuts and 1 tbsp espresso powder. It also included 2 tbsp of cornstarch and a pinch of salt.

I know the egg whites are supposed to be at room temp and they were, but I've heard conflicting advice on how fresh they should be. As they were leftover, they weren't so fresh.

The taste is delicious, but..they all have a very large air pocket in the centre.

One thing that I thought was odd about the recipe was that it called for a 300 degree oven and a 30 min. baking time. Other recipes call for a lot lower temp and longer time. Would this have caused the air pocket? Any other thoughts or advice?

[patris]

I'm not familiar with the recipe, but are they piped? If so, could there be something in your piping technique that's leaving the cookies vulnerable to an air pocket in roughly the same place?

[alanamoana]

That's a really high amount of sugar relative to egg white. So, there are a couple of things that could have happened:

too hot an oven causing the egg whites to expand too much and then burst in the middle causing the cavity

or

too much sugar causing unstable meringue which then causes the air bubbles to burst when in the oven making a hole in the middle

or

a combination of the two

Egg whites can really only take their own weight in sugar when whipping to meringue. After that, the syrup becomes too heavy for the whites and it just doesn't work that well (for certain applications). So, what I would have done with that recipe is: whip the whites with half/two thirds of the sugar and then sift the remaining sugar with the corn starch and fold it into the meringue after full volume is achieved (and whatever other ingredients you're adding).

[gingerfreak]

patris - no they weren't piped, I just spooned them on the parchment.

alanamoana - I think you're right that it's a combination of the two. I was suspicious of the oven temp to start with and wasn't sure if the whites had reached the volume necessary. Oh well, lesson learned!

Thanks for the tips

[jfield]

Actually, the correct proportion of sugar to egg whites for a stable foam is 2 parts sugar to 1 part whites. No problem w/your recipe there. I would look to the speed at which you whisked your whites. Optimum speed for the most stable foam is medium on a stand mixer. It'll take a little longer, but the bubbles will be small and densely packed-the end result will be almost creamy rather than fluffy. Whipping too fast makes bubbles that are too big and unstable. That means they pop. Next time, start slow then increase speed to medium, adding the sugar a bit at a time, along w/salt, espresso powder and corn starch. Fold in nuts last. Good luck