Chef Dominique Ansel’s Swiss Meringue Recipe: How to Make Swiss Meringue (With Video)

A meringue is a foam of air bubbles enclosed in egg white and stabilized by sugar, first developed in the seventeenth century by cooks who used bundles of straw as whisks. The Swiss style, aka meringue cuite, is smoother and more dense than French meringue but less stable than Italian meringue.

Marshmallow-y Swiss meringue is made by beating egg whites and sugar together in a double boiler (a pan or bowl set above boiling water) until sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture is hot to the touch. It’s then removed from heat and further beaten in an electric mixer until doubled in volume and foamy. Swiss meringue tends to achieve less volume than the other varieties, because the sugar is added early on in the whipping process, interfering with the ability of the egg proteins to unfold and bond with each other to form the walls that support the little bubbles of air.

Swiss meringues are dense and smooth, and can be used in a variety of ways in baking:

1. 1. Frostings. It’s usually used as a base to be mixed with other frostings, such as buttercream. Swiss meringue buttercream is a perfect topping for cupcakes.
2. 2. Pavlova. It can be molded in a ring mold and baked to create a fluffy meringue base for a pavlova.
3. 3. Lemon pie and Baked Alaska. In America, it’s commonly used on top of a Lemon Meringue Pie or to cover a Baked Alaska, a classic dessert consisting of a round of cake, topped with ice cream, then encased in meringue to insulate it from the heat of the broiler or torch, which browns and caramelizes the meringue like a toasted marshmallow. Both desserts traditionally use French meringue; though, in the past couple of decades, pastry chefs have begun using Swiss meringue in its stead.

Follow these little tips and tricks to bake perfect meringue every time.

1. 1. Don’t worry about over-whipping the meringue. It won’t affect the final outcome of the product, so better to over-whip than under-whip. A good meringue has firm, stiff peaks.
2. 2. When making the meringue, it is very important to use clean tools. If a drop of oil (or other fat) or egg yolk gets into the egg whites, the meringue will not whip properly.
3. 3. Use the meringue right away. Don’t store it in the fridge, because the sugar will start to separate and seep and that fluffy texture will start to deflate.
4. 4. Decorate or pipe your tart/cake immediately. You can also gently brown the surface of the meringue with a small hand-held butane torch to give it a caramelized finish (be sure to ignite the torch away from the meringue first, so the meringue doesn’t end up tasting like butane).
5. 5. The more you work the meringue, the looser its structure becomes. When it bakes, a loose meringue will become flat and dense. It is very important to be as gentle as possible at this stage.
6. 6. Some meringue recipes call for cream of tartar, which acts as a stabilizer.
7. 7. If you want to add a hint of flavor to your meringues, you can try adding a few drops of vanilla extract.

Use the below step-by-step guide to make two 4-inch baked meringue bases.

1. 1. Once you’ve finished making your meringue (before it’s baked), place your two ring molds onto a silicone mat on a baking sheet (if you don’t have a silicone mat, you can also just line your baking sheet with parchment).
2. 2. Using a spatula, transfer half of the meringue into the first ring mold, smoothing out the surface so that the meringue fully fills the mold. Tip: If you don’t have a ring mold, you can use a spatula to form two mounds that are roughly 4-inch by 2-inch each. The meringue will spread slightly when baked.
3. 3. Carefully remove the ring. Repeat with the second ring.
4. 4. Bake for 10 minutes at 375°F. Then turn down the oven to 325°F and bake for 20 minutes more, until the outside of the meringue forms a thin and crunchy shell (about 1/8” thick) and is golden blonde in color, and the inside is tender and still a bit moist.
5. 5. Let the meringue cool to room temperature (be careful not to touch it too much as it might deflate). Top with Chantilly and fresh fruits and enjoy.

In this video, Chef Dominique Ansel demonstrates how to use a whisk attachment to mix the perfect fluffy meringue.

If you want to add flavorings to this meringue, add them after the meringue is whipped to the proper consistency so that the flavorings don’t impede the whipping process. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in any desired flavorings into the meringue (or you can leave the meringue plain-flavored as well). Feel free to separate the meringue into batches and use different flavors. When choosing flavorings, pick ones that are very concentrated, like:

• Ground spices, like ground cinnamon
• Alcohol-based extracts, like peppermint extract
• Citrus zests, like grated lemon zest
• Cocoa powder

Just make sure you keep all tools clean for each to avoid mixing them. You can also add a drop of natural food coloring to your Swiss meringue to create colored Mini Me’s.

The style of meringue Chef Dominique makes for the meringue drops that decorate his chocolate cake is the Swiss meringue.

To make it, you gently cook the egg whites and sugar in a bowl set over a pan of boiling water (what Chef Dominique refers to as a “double boiler”) so that the meringue will become stable when whipped and can be easily piped for the baked meringue drops.

When you’re done, store in a closed, airtight container at room temperature, away from humidity, for up to one week.

1. 1. Place a #804 plain tip in a plastic piping bag and use scissors to cut the bag to fit the tip. Fold over the top of the piping bag so it forms a lip all the way around.
2. 2. Form your non-dominant hand into a “C” shape and rest the bag in your hand, letting the lip of the bag fall over your fingers.
3. 3. Using a spatula, place 2 large scoops of meringue in the bag so that it is one-third full. Push the meringue down toward the tip of the bag.
4. 4. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. At each corner, pipe a small dot of meringue under the parchment and push the parchment flat. This will help keep it “glued” to the sheet pan.
5. 5. Holding the piping bag at a 90-degree angle, or perpendicular, about 1⁄2 inch (1.25cm) above the sheet pan, pipe a dot of meringue with steady, even pressure until it reaches the size of a dime. Pull the piping bag straight up to create a fine point. (You should have a meringue teardrop-shaped like a Hershey’s Kiss.)
6. 6. Repeat piping drops about 1⁄2 inch (1.25cm) apart until all the meringue is used, refilling the piping bag as necessary. (You might need to use a few sheet pans, depending on the size of the Mini Me’s.)
7. 7. Bake the meringues for 20 minutes.
8. 8. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for 20 minutes more.
9. 9. Continue to rotate every 20 minutes until the meringues are completely dry, about 1 hour 20 minutes total. The Mini Me’s should be crispy all the way through.
10. 10. Transfer the Mini Me’s, still on the parchment paper, to a wire rack to cool completely. When cool, remove gently from the parchment with your fingers.