Ingredients
- Egg Whites 4 large (130 g), at room temperature
- Lemon Juice 1 tsp
- Superfine Sugar 1 cup (200 g)
- Pure Vanilla Extract 1 tsp
- Fine Salt 1/4 tsp
- Hazelnuts 1/4 cup (35 g,) finely chopped toasted and skinned
Cook it
- Arrange two racks in the upper-middle and lower parts of the oven. Preheat the oven to 250° F (120° C) and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
- Make sure that both the stainless-steel bowl and whisk attachment are squeaky clean, with no residual fat from previous baking adventures, or your egg whites will not whip properly. Pour the egg whites into the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium until the egg whites are foamy.
- Add the lemon juice and increase the speed to high. When the whites are creamy, gradually begin adding the sugar, 1 Tbs at a time, with the mixer running. Once you have added 3/4 cup (150 g) of the sugar, add the vanilla and salt. Add the final 1/4 cup (50 g) of sugar, 1 Tbs at a time, until you have added it all. The meringue should be smooth and glossy, with stiff peaks that hold upright or just barely curl at the tip.
- Scoop the batter into a large piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. You may need to fill the bag in batches to keep the meringue from overflowing. Pipe large swirls of meringue—about the size of a tennis ball or slightly larger (they will expand as they bake) onto the baking sheets, 5 per sheet. Slide the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower the heat to 200° F (90° C) and bake for 1 hour more. Turn the oven off and allow the meringues to cool completely before opening the oven door.
- Once cool, remove the meringues from the oven and carefully lift them off the parchment. Set them on a rack if you’re not serving them immediately. Otherwise, carefully pile them onto a decorative platter and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Baker’s Note: Meringue batter is fussy. It is best not to make these cookies in humid conditions, as they absorb moisture from the atmosphere and may not dry properly or retain their crunch. I find it’s best to make them in winter, when the weather is cold and dry.
Meringues are sweet, and one the size of a softball (or larger) might be too much to take in one sitting. You can enjoy these gentle giants in small doses, by crumbling them on top of ice cream or in an Eton Mess-style parfait, layered with whipped cream and strawberries.
You can also make bite-size meringues by using a smaller tip to pipe out smaller swirls of batter. Bake them the same way you would larger meringues, at 250° F (120° C) for 45 minutes, then at 200° F (90° C) for 1 hour. Leave them in the oven to cool completely.
Recipes excerpted from Italian Cookies: Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories from Every Region by Domenica Marchetti. Photos by Lauren Volo. Reprinted by permission of Gibbs Smith Books.
