Swiss Meringue (That’s Actually Stable & Doesn’t Weep!)
If you’re a marshmallow fluff lover, you’re in for a real treat with fresh homemade Swiss meringue! It’s mostly made of just egg whites and sugar with the help of a few stabilizing ingredients, tips & tricks to keep it stable and not weep for days (I even freeze it!).
What is Swiss Meringue
Meringue itself is the combination of whipping egg whites with sugar where you incorporate a bunch of air and it turns into this fluffy cloud of deliciousness. Essentially it’s a marshmallow without the gelatin so it tastes like a marshmallow but doesn’t set jiggly like one. It’s pretty much comparable to marshmallow fluff (but so much better!).
Meringue can also be slow baked, which is a dessert in itself, called a Pavlova, that’s crisp on the outside and marshmallowy in the center ORRR it can just be used as a topping or frosting for desserts.
Some examples would be my s’mores cakes – the fan favorite layer cake where I used it between the layers or this fabulous chocolate s’mores cake that uses it as a topping.
It’s commonly used to top pies like lemon meringue pie.
The Swiss part comes from the method of which it’s made. There’s three ways to make it, French, Swiss and Italian.
The Swiss method is where you place a bowl with the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler and cook it until the sugar is fully dissolved before moving it to the stand mixer to whip air into it.
How To Make Meringue
At the bare minimum, you need two ingredients and 7 minutes however, I’m going to teach you how to make a STABLE meringue that doesn’t weep 20 minutes after you’ve made it. We need 5 ingredients and like 15-20 minutes.
Ingredients & Substitutions:
- Egg whites: for the best results, you’ll want to use fresh room temperature egg whites.
- Sugar: I generally use granulated sugar, however, it works fine with super fine sugar, light or dark brown sugar.
- Cream of Tartar: this brings a little acidity to the meringue to help stabilize it – don’t use too much though. You can also just use about a tablespoon of lemon juice if you prefer.
- Vanilla: for the best flavor I recommend fresh beans from a vanilla pod or vanilla bean paste but vanilla extract works fine as well.
- Salt: I like adding a tiny pinch of sea salt as well so the meringue doesn’t feel sooooo sweet.
Step-by-Step Photos
- Sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites over a double boiler.
- Sugar fully dissolved in the egg whites before whipping.
- Egg whites and sugar fully whipped into a fluffy meringue.
- Meringue is used as a frosting.
How to make your Swiss meringue stable
I am passionate about this because FOR YEARS I couldn’t make a Swiss meringue that didn’t weep after just a few minutes/hours and I finally figured it out. The weeping is the egg whites separating from the sugar, deflating and letting the liquid weep out, which then gets everything soggy and gross.
Here are my tips & tricks to a stable meringue:
- Use a stand mixer with a metal bowl and the whisk attachment. Clean them all well and then wipe them down with vinegar or lemon juice. If there is any fat residue on your equipment the meringue risks not whipping up properly. Acid will get rid of any fat residue.
- Speaking of acid – the proteins in the egg whites will expand much easier in the presence of acid so I like to add some cream of tartar – about ½ tsp for 4 eggs or so…again, 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of lemon juice works fine here too.
- Use fresh room temperature egg whites, they’ll whip up much easier.
- When you have your egg whites and sugar over the double boiler – make sure you are whisking it frequently, you don’t want any eggs to coagulate if it overheats around the edge of the bowl.
- I also recommend using a digital thermometer – this is the single greatest improvement in my meringues. Take the egg whites to 175F (80C) to get that very marshmallowy texture that doesn’t deflate or weep after a couple of hours. In fact, I’ve had this last for DAYS and have frozen it without any issues (not a guarantee but a general standard if done right lol).
- If you are desperate for your meringue to stay stable (this ones a guarantee lol) and set a little, you can add 1/8 tsp of gelatin per two egg whites. This is not traditional and it does alter the consistency slightly by “setting” it (similar to being on its way to a marshmallow but definitely not that jiggly). 1/8 tsp is soooo little that it’s hardly noticeable though and all it does is gelatinize the water that’s trying to “weep” out. I do this if I’m using the meringue in a layer cake and need it to hold it up for a long time.
- The last thing is toasting it. You’ll need a kitchen torch for this but the meringue will hold its shape much better if it’s toasted, although the inside of it may still soften over time.
- Last but not least – DON’T CUT THE SUGAR. I know meringue is sweet – it is sugar and egg whites after all but sugar is a stabilizer and if you’re reducing it, you can’t expect the same results.
Recipes that use Meringue
I have so so many recipes that use meringue, just use click the “Marshmallow/meringue” flavor under the “ingredients” category on the recipe index. Some of my favorites include my S’mores cake, Lemon Meringue Cheesecake and Caramel Tart.
Storing Swiss Meringue
Meringue is best used and served fresh because you never know how long it’ll last.
But if your meringue is stable, you can refrigerate it before using it for a few hours (generally unlikely unless you’re confident in your meringue making abilities lol).
If you’ve used it in your dessert and you’re not serving it right away, make sure to keep it refrigerated – it’ll make it last longer.
If you’ve added gelatin, don’t refrigerate it until you’ve used it. Once you’ve used it in your dessert, refrigerate it to set it and it can stay refrigerated for days (or even frozen).
That said, I have also frozen desserts with a meringue (that was stable – both with gelatin and without) and have had no issues but that’s not a guarantee.
That’s my spiel on Swiss meringue – I’ll be using this in sooo many new recipes this year so make sure you’re comfortable making it *wink-face*. If you have any questions, please comment down below – those will get answered much quicker than email or through social media.
If you found this post helpful for making meringue, I would very much appreciate a 5-star rating or review as well.
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
I want to try this recipe but the bowl of my mixer is metal is it ok to place this over hot water? I usually use a pyrex bowl. If I use a pyrex bowl can I then tip the mix into the metal mixer bowl?
Hi Jennifer, I recommend the metal bowl, I’ve had the glass bowl break on a double boiler before