Perfect Meringues

The Italians choose to use a hot sugar syrup, while the French stick to cold sugar; this recipe is half way between the two. By heating the sugar a little and letting it caramelise ever so slightly, these meringues have a beautiful shine and wonderful flavour.

My wife loves it when I make ice cream, often requesting it, and I tend to use five egg yolks in most cases. This is a great way to use up the leftover egg whites. I don't always make meringues right away when making ice cream. Instead sometimes I refrigerate them and save them to use another day.

Getting meringues right can be a tricky affair. This is largely due to the fact that ovens drastically vary in temperature and how they hold it. Therefore this is a rough guide and timing will need to be adjusted with practice. It is essential to use a clean bowl otherwise this recipe will not work. You can whisk the egg whites by hand, but this is definitely a recipe that will benefit from an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.

I've seen many recipes that suggest leaving the meringues in the oven after cooking to allow them to cool completely. This is less reliable as ovens retain heat differently and therefore finding the ideal timing and removing from the oven is more foolproof.