Has anyone ever baked meringue cookies in silicone molds?

[AKS613]

I know that the recommended way to make macarons is on parchment vs silicone, but I am asking specifically about meringue cookies. I want them all to be uniform in shape and was wondering if I could pipe these into mini round silicone molds, would it work? Would spraying with a light coat of PAM deflate them too much or prevent them from drying out? I don't want them too dry, but I want the bottoms to set. Thanks for your responses!

[Lisa Shock]

I always pipe them onto silpats. You can place a printed template under the silpat if you need a guide. I would not spray a silicone pan for two reasons, first is that it's not good for the macaron, second, the spray may damage the surface of silicone.

 

I haven't used one of those pans, they probably work alright, it's just that if you pipe too much product in one spot, you'll get an odd looking footing at the base instead of spreading into a larger disc.

[keychris]

To keep them uniform: practice makes perfect. Practice that piping technique until you get it exactly right

[jmacnaughtan]

By meringue cookies, are you talking about macarons?

[AKS613]

No. Not macarons. Meringues like the meringue mushroom type. I just want them all exactly the same size. Thanks.

[jmacnaughtan]

OK.  There's no reason why you can't bake them in a mould- Conticini does a Buddha's hand meringue in half-spheres.

 

But I'd recommend you just work on your piping.  Generally when you make meringues, you make a significant amount and I'm not sure you'd want to buy that many moulds.

[JeanneCake]

What shape are you trying to make? 

 

When we have a lot of 2.5" round individual pavlovas to make, we make 10-15 full sheets of parchment paper marked with circles using a black sharpie marker.  We slide that under a plain sheet of parchment and use it as a piping guide.  After an entire sheet pan is piped, you can then just slide the template out from under and use it again and again and again.....maybe this would work for you?  You could even mark one side of a silpat (keep in mind that you wouldn't want to put food on the side that is marked, and it could wash off over time).

[Drewman]

I've made floating island meringues in dome flexi-molds, so I'm guessing it should work. It's only egg whites and sugar, why not try it and let us know?

[AKS613]

Thanks everyone. My piping is pretty solid, I just want them completely uniform. I like the idea of the template but I only have rimmed baking sheets, so I wouldn't be able to pull the template out from under the piped meringue. As long as I know it can be done, I will try it and report back. I really appreciate your responses.

[JeanneCake]

You mean sheet pans?  Or cookie sheets? All our sheet pans have rims that are an inch high, and as long as I am careful to hold the end of the parchment that has the piped shells on it with my right thumb, I can slide the template sheet out from under it with my left hand and it doesn't disturb the piped shells...

 

ETA: for clarity.  I hope.

Edited March 25, 2015 by JeanneCake (log)

[Smithy]

You mean sheet pans? Or cookie sheets? All our sheet pans have rims that are an inch high, and as long as I am careful to hold the end of the parchment that has the piped shells on it with my right thumb, I can slide the template sheet out from under it with my left hand and it doesn't disturb the piped shells...

ETA: for clarity. I hope.

I saw a neat trick for this in a bread-baking course that I'm taking: if the sheet pan is rimmed, turn it over and use the bottom for the flat surface. No rims to interfere with sliding parchment on and off. I slapped my head. Why hadn't I thought of that? (My thanks to Peter Reinhart!)

[AKS613]

Thanks for the replies. It worked!