If you have ever watched MasterChef Australia or South Africa, then you will know that Italian meringue is one of those things that if not done perfectly, it is not only ugly but a total disaster and supposedly quite easy to mess-up. So, I don’t know about you but I know I was nervous to ever try making it, for fear of a complete and utter ‘nailed it‘ situation (if you want to see some funny kitchen disasters, then click on the nailed it link).
However, with all this knowledge under my belt, I decided to brave it and looked for a relatively simple and hopefully proven recipe…then I prayed it would work. When I came across Martha Stewart’s recipe, I thought it sounded easy enough and must work…I mean she is a kitchen goddess and surely knows what she is doing!
This recipe has been adapted from Martha’s ever so slightly. I can’t say it is foolproof as I have only made it once but it was perfect and so moreish…we kept licking our fingers, the bowl and utensils!
Hints & Tips :
- I recommend getting someone to help you, so that one of you can focus on the egg whites and one can focus on the sugar syrup. My assistant was my Baking Buddy – Angelique a.k.a Ange. So thanks to Ange, the sugar syrup didn’t burn 🙂
- Once piped on your cupcakes or cake, use a blow torch to give it that mouth-watering look and caramelised meringue taste…when I went looking for one, they only place I found was @Home.
- If you have any left over frosting, you can pipe it into shapes and bake on a very low temp (between 60 – 70°C) for many many hours – maybe 3 – 4 hours or until they are deliciously crisp on the outside with a soft gooey centre.
Below is a pic of the Italian meringue frosting on some lemon cupcakes…which will hopefully be on the blog next week!
Italian meringue frosting on some lemon hidden centre cupcakes…yum!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp castor sugar
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 2/3 cup water
- 6 large egg whites, room temp
Method
- Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and golden syrup in a small saucepan, preferably a thick bottomed saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to the boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and starts to form a syrup.
- Place a candy thermometer into the mixture and continue boiling, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 110°C.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, which the egg whites on a medium-high speed, either with your hand mixer or stand mixer...I obviously used my Kenwood kMix...until soft peaks form.
- With the mixer running, add the remaining 2 tbsps sugar, beating to combine.
- As soon as the sugar syrup reaches 110°C, remove from the heat. With the mixer running on a low speed, pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl in a slow steady stream (make sure you are using a metal bowl).
- Increase the speed to medium-high and whisk until the mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff but not dry peaks form. This will take about 7 minutes.
- Use immediately.
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