French Meringues are made from egg whites beaten with sugar and a little cream of tartar, salt or lemon juice to help them hold their shape. This process can take on many different uses depending on how you treat the meringue. You can flavor it with vanilla, peppermint or whatever you like. You can add food coloring ; and you can pipe it into any shape or flower or can drop it by teaspoonful into kiss shapes. You can use soft meringue to cover a pie and you can smooth it out into disks to form a Pavlova.
The color of your French Meringues is a personal preference. I love them to be stark white; so I bake them for less time in a low oven and let them finish drying out in a turned off oven. If you leave them in a low oven longer, they will turn somewhat tan. The taste is the same. It’s a matter of aesthetics.
Warning! Meringues are very sensitive to humidity. A rainy day will make your light as air crisp meringues turn into something sticky that will not melt in your mouth.
For Passover: replace cream of tartar with 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice or a pinch of salt.
