On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 214

prematurely limits the trapping of air.
However, they offer several advantages.
Because sugar is more soluble in hot liquid
thanincold,theymorereadilyabsorbalarge
proportionofsugar.Likethedenseautomatic
meringue (above), they’re less brittle when
dried down. Partial coagulation of the egg
proteins stabilizes these foams enough to sit
withoutseparatingforadayormore.Andfor
cooksconcernedaboutthesafetyofraweggs,
somecookedmeringuesgethotenoughtokill
salmonellabacteria.
Therearetwobasickindsofcooked
meringues.Thefirst(“Italian”)isthesyrupcookedmeringue.Sugarisboiledseparately
withsomewaterto240or250ºF/115–120ºC
(the“soft-ball”stage,around90%sugar,at
whichfudgeandfondantaremade),the
whiteswhippedtostiffpeaks,andthesyrup
thenstreamedandbeatenintothewhites.The
resultisafluffyyetfine-textured,stifffoam.
Ithasenoughbodytodecoratepastriesandto


holdforadayortwobeforeuse,butisalso
lightenoughtoblendintobattersandcreams.
Becausemuchofthesyrup’sheatislosttothe
bowl,whisk,andair,thefoammassnormally
getsnohotterthan130or135ºF/55–58ºC,
whichisinsufficienttokillsalmonella.
Thesecondsortofcookedmeringue
(“Swiss”)ismostclearlydescribedasa

cookedmeringueplainandsimple(theFrench
meringuecuite).Tomakeit,eggs,acid,and
sugarareheatedinahot-waterbathand
beatenuntilastifffoamforms.Thebowlis
thenremovedfromtheheatandthefoam
beatenuntilitcools.Thispreparationcan
pasteurizetheeggwhites.Thankstothe
protectiveeffectsofsugar,creamoftartar,
andconstantagitation,youcanheatthe
meringuemixtureto170or175ºF/75–78ºC
andstillendupwithastablethoughdense
foam.Thecookedmeringuecanbe
refrigeratedforseveraldays,andisusually
pipedintodecorativeshapes.