Baking trials: What’s the best way to make meringue?

It’s wonderful how something as simple as air can transform a bowl of viscous, translucent egg whites into feather-light, bright white meringue, ready to be piped into sweet confections or dolloped onto pie — or even shaped into a round to make a stunning pavlova, like this fun and festive Chocolate Peppermint Pavlova. And the process is easy as 1-2-3: Beat the whites, add sugar, and continue beating until stiff and glossy.  

Beyond egg whites and sugar, most recipes call for a stabilizer, something acidic that will build your meringue more quickly and keep it fluffy longer. Cream of tartar, lemon juice, and vinegar are the most common stabilizers called for in meringue recipes. But do they really make a difference? And if so, is one better than the others? We tested to find out.

The meringue tests 

Using different stabilizers in an identical controlled process, we performed four meringue tests:  

• No stabilizer: 2 large room temperature egg whites, 113g granulated sugar (the control)
• Cream of tartar: 2 large room temperature egg whites, 113g granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar   
• Lemon juice: 2 large room temperature egg whites, 113g granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 
• Vinegar: 2 large room temperature egg whites, 113g granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar 

PJ Hamel

The process  

We used an electric hand mixer set at high speed to beat the egg whites and the selected stabilizer (if using) for 45 seconds. The sugar was gradually added over the next 30 seconds of beating. Once all the sugar was added, the mixture was beaten for an additional 30 seconds.  

The resulting meringue was piped into a dozen 1 1/2" kisses and a 5" round and baked as directed in this meringue recipe. After 90 minutes, the meringues were removed from the oven. They were covered with a cake cover (still on the baking sheet) and left at room temperature overnight. 

PJ Hamel

The meringue results  

All the tests produced acceptable meringue. But there was a marked difference between using no stabilizer at all vs. lemon juice or vinegar; and another leap in quality when using cream of tartar.   

No stabilizer: The meringue, though bright and glossy, was soft and unable to hold a truly stiff peak when piped. Later tests showed that beating it longer helped, but never to the level of adding a stabilizer. The baked meringues were nicely crunchy just out of the oven, but softened noticeably overnight, becoming chewy rather than crisp. 

Lemon juice or vinegar: These two acids produced identical results. The meringue was white, glossy, and fairly stiff, settling softly after piping, the tips of its peaks curling over. Crunchy right out of the oven, they lost a bit of their crispiness overnight.

Cream of tartar (recommended): The meringue was bright white, very glossy, and held its shape without settling; its peaks stuck straight up without curling. The process also took less time overall. The whites were noticeably more voluminous after the first 30 seconds, and the meringue reached its final glossy finish more quickly than with either lemon juice or vinegar. The finished meringues were light and crunchy, rose a bit higher than their competitors, and retained nearly all their crisp texture the next day. 

PJ Hamel

The verdict: What’s the best way to make meringue? 

Use 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar per large egg white to stabilize the egg white and sugar mixture. The addition of cream of tartar makes a stiff, glossy meringue that beats up more quickly, holds a bit more air, retains its shape perfectly when piped, and stays crunchy longer compared to meringue made with other stabilizers.  

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne

So, is it worth adding cream of tartar to your pantry? For recipes using beaten egg whites, from angel food or chiffon cake to macarons, meringue-topped pie or an airy pavlova, yes!  

But that’s not all: For a comprehensive guide to making the best meringue, see our post: Meringue rules: What to abide and what to let slide. 

Cover photo and food styling by Liz Neily.