Hi !

I just made a batch of meringue and there was a problem : after having the meringue swirls inside the oven for more than 90 minutes , the swirls shrank , they were kinda soft and not crunchy when I touched them . 

Please help me with this problem . I need 50 meringue swirls for the party tomorrow , any suggestion would be helpful . Thanks a lot =) ! 

generally you need to leave them in a low oven, sometimes with the oven door open for hours and hours.  

I make loads of these every year.  It's family thing.  I bake mine at 200* for 3 hours, with a wooden spoon holding the oven door open, it's only open a tiny bit maybe 1/4 to 1/2" max.  After the 3 hours I turn the oven off and let them sit in there until they have cooled fully.  They can be time consuming.  During this holiday season I make 1 tray per day.  So 36 a day, mine are a bit bigger, a heaping teaspoon (not measuring spoon) each.  Don't open the oven at all while they are in there cooking or cooling.  I let mine cool 2-3 hours or overnight.

I don't think 90 minutes is nearly enough time.  2.5-3 hours depending on their size.

Hope that helps.

Thanks =D , I'll do that with the new batch tomorrow =D , but what can I do with the shrinking problem ? I mean the swirls shrank after 50 minutes of baking so I think the timing may not be the cause for it =( 

AYou may be baking them too hot.

when I used pasteurized carton eggs that happened to me also. The meringues actually squeaked when I bit into them.

So I cracked & separated a few fresh eggs and they came out fine. It was a recipe from the book 'Meringues'  (so I'm new at this)

I baked another batch today and the result was disappointed ...again =( .I even left the oven door open but nothing changed , it's like the longer the meringue swirls are baked the flatter they get (they shrank) !!!

I don't know if the temperature has something to do with this problem , in the basic recipe they say that preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit (about 93 degree celsius) , but I checked some other recipes and found out that some people bake the meringue at 140C in a very short time (about 30-45 minutes) . So I devised the batter and baked my 1st batch at 93C (while opening the oven door) , my second batch at 140C . They both failed and the second one was about to burn (because the heat was too high to dry the meringue I believe) .

I don't need the meringue now but I still want to know why they keeps turning flat , I've made meringue for a long time and this problem didn't happen in the past , until now =( ...

Please help me !!!!

you beating it up good--if i understand this correctly you've made this before successfully?

did you get a new mixer or something or is there some issue with the beaten whites maybe?

maybe some unbeaten whites in there or something? need to scrape the bowl maybe?

just trying to think of something for you...

Thanks for your reply =) . I've made this many times before and yes the results were great , that's why I'm really frustrating right now , I have no idea what's wrong with the me baking meringue these days . I still use my old mixer and I don't think there's something wrong with the egg-whites because today , yesterday and the day before yesterday , I continuously made 3 batches of meringue and they all failed with the same problem =( ...

Meringues are very picky about the humidity.  When it's raining out and the air is damp, mine always come out sticky in the center.  But as soon as the weather is dry again, no problem.

Here is my recipe, works great every time.  As long as it isn't humid or damp.

4 Lg egg whites  (fresh eggs are best, not carton of egg whites)

2 1/4 cups icing sugar (sifted)

1/4 tsp creme of tartar

pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 200* F  Oven Rack in Center

Put parchment on your baking tray

Whip egg whites, salt & creme of tartar until really foamy, whip on high in kitchen aid with whisk attachment

When good and foamy, turn mixer down 7-8 and very slowly, spoon full at a time, add the sugar, drop it down the edge of the bowl as not to fling it all over the kitchen.

Once all the sugar is mixed in, turn off mixer, scrape the bowl down, to get all the sugar off the sides and into the mix.   Turn mixer back on low until all the sugar is mixed in.

Now turn the mixer on high (10)  and just let it go for 12 minutes.

It should be stiff and glossy.   Now either pipe or drop spoon fulls onto baking sheet.    I do the rounded spoon full.

Place baking pan in the oven, center of rack, close the oven door  but leave the handle of a wooden spoon in the oven door.  Just to leave it open about 1/4"

Put your timer on for  2.5 for very small meringues or 3 hours for rounded tea spoon full size (not measuring spoon)

When the time is up turn the oven off, but leave the meringues in the oven to cool completely, about 2-3 hours

Store in an air tight container in the cupboard.

While they are cooking and cooling do not open the oven.

Hope this is helpful.

Good Luck  

If you've made these before without any trouble it may be your oven or your weather.  Meringues and damp humid weather are not friends. 

ACan I used the hand mixer ? Can I reduce the recipe down to 2 eggs Thanks a lot for your recipe :D !

You can reduce the recipe by half.  No problem.

I've never done it with a hand mixer.  But mix it on high once all the sugar is incorporated for a good 15 minutes.  It will be a good work out for sure.

Good Luck.