Basic Meringue Types

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Published 2008

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Meringues may be whipped to various degrees of stiffness as long as they are not overbeaten until they are too stiff and dry. For most purposes, they are beaten until they form stiff, or nearly stiff, moist peaks.

Common meringue, also called French meringue, is made from egg whites at room temperature, beaten with sugar. It is the easiest to make, and it is reasonably stable due to the high percentage of sugar.
Swiss meringue is made from egg whites and sugar that are warmed over a hot-water bath while they are beaten. This warming gives the meringue better volume and stability.
Italian meringue is made by beating a hot sugar syrup into the egg whites. This meringue is the most stable of the three because the egg whites are cooked by the heat of the syrup. When flavored with vanilla, it is also known as boiled icing. It is also used in meringue-type buttercream icings.