Meringue Powder
Also Known As: Dried Meringue Powder
Origin: U.S.A.
Ingredients: Sugar, Egg White Solids, Edible Gums, Alum Powder, Salt, Vanillin and Calcium Lactate
Taste and Aroma: Sweet! Smells like vanilla and freshly baked pastries.
Uses: Traditionally used to make meringue and hard icings, try in cookies, drinks, desserts and other recipes where like and frothy consistency is desired. For Royal Icing (a hard drying icing) mix 1/4 cup meringue powder with 1/2 cup cold water, beat until peaks form. Add 4 cups sifted powdered sugar, beat to desired consistency. For meringue topping, dissolved 3/4 cup granulated sugar in 1/2 cup boiling water, cool. Add 1/4 cup meringue powder and beat to a stiff peak.
Substitutes: Buttermilk Powder, Coconut Milk Powder, Whole Milk Powder, Cream of Tartar and Baking Powder.
Fun Fact: The name meringue came from a pastry chef named Gasparini in the Swiss town of Merhrinyghen. In 1720, Gasparini created a small pastry of dried egg foam and sugar from which the simplified meringue evolved. It became so popular that Marie Antoinette is said to have prepared the sweet with her own hands!