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failing meringues – what am I doing wrong?

I’m at my wits end with meringues.

My KitchenAid has stopped working, so I’m stuck using a hand mixer but it is 350W, which is more powerful than the KA.

Every recipe I’ve seen says you have to beat the meringue (sugar+eggs) until stiff peaks and all the sugar has dissolved.

The sugar never dissolves. I was at high speed on the hand mixer for almost 20 minutes and I could still feel grains. I used caster sugar.

I don’t think the hand mixer is the problem, as when Kitchen Aid worked, I still couldn’t get the sugar to totally dissolve. I also heated the sugar in the oven for about 6 minutes.

What could I being doing wrong?

I don’t have the time or ingredients to experiment right now, but I’m wondering if I just proceeded along the lines of making a swiss meringue by heating sugar and eggs until all the sugar has dissolved and then beat it, would this solve the problem?

My heart sank when I looked in the oven and saw all the meringues were splitting and “weeping”, which I gather is because of the sugar not having been fully dissolved.

Help.

Hi cakecat

The Swiss meringue should work just fine. Try and avoid adding too much liquid flavouring if using as liquid can make meringue fall. If your weather is wet or humid, it will also affect how the meringue turn out.

Hope you next batch is successful ?

Well, I went ahead and made a swiss batch before I even read your reply.

Fail.

After 15 minutes of beating, I could not get it to stiff peaks and therefore it wouldn’t hold the shape of the star nozzle. Just have pools of blobs.

I stopped after 15 minutes figuring I would overbeat the mixture.

I added no liquid flavouring.

In the UK, we’ve had rain but the sun has been out for a while now.

I can’t for the life of me make meringues. It should be so easy.

My KitchenAid is making a clanking sound. It’s only the classic version and is about 8 years old.

After a bit of research, I thought I may have had a worn out gear, so I took the machine apart. I looked for what might be wrong and there didn’t seem to be a problem. So I put it back together again (threw away the spare parts, where did they come from?) ha ha, just kidding. 🙂

Anyway, so I stand up the KA only to realize that the gear bit level is now facing UP instead of horizonal. Sigh.

The stars are not aligned and I can’t make meringues and my KA is down.

Thanks for your help, madeitwithlove.

Who are you anyways? The one with all the answers who knows everything about cake. Does your real identity begin with P? I will say no more, but you are so clever. I know I’ve gone off the track with that. Kinda like, “oh look, a squirrel!”

If anyone knows of a place to get a Kitchen Aid fixed in the Merseyside/Wirral area, it would be much appreciated.

Ok, just checked the oven and the blobs of meringue have risen and have “feet”, almost like macarons. Did I overmix?

Too much troubleshooting to do, so I don’t blame anyone for not trying to sort this.

If an Admin could please delete my posts in this topic, I would appreciate it. It is not much use to anyone and it makes me look a bit mad. 🙂

Hi catcake

I can delete your posts if that is what you really want. First, how did you get on? Did you have another try? It’s maddening when things don’t work out, especially when you’ve done all the right things.

You mentioned troubleshooting. I’m sure that you are already aware to wipe your mixing bowl and beaters well with either a little vinegar or lemon juice to clean off any grease particles. As you know, grease, even in tiniest amount will not allow meringue to reach an optimum volume. Egg shells or a tiny dot of egg yolk will do the same. Fat and meringue are not best of friends! Sugar should be added slowly until each spoonful dissolves.

Please let me know how you got on and if you really do want me to delete you post. Xx

Ps. You may think your post isn’t helpful but believe me, it is and will give comfort to others who can relate to your frustration. ?

Glad you kept this post, but just wondering, are you talking about meringues, or Swiss meringue buttercream?

Hi maisy

This post was discussing falling meringues. The original poster didn’t get back to say whether her meringue problem resolved. If you’d like to add any advice, it will be appreciatively received. ?

Reason I was asking it because I found when I make meringues (not Swiss meringue buttercream, as I have no bother with that, as I make it all the time) I find my sugar doesn’t dissolve much either. And I’m finding it frustrating. So found this post interesting and was hoping someone had some advice.