Italian Meringue
 

Has anyone here made Italian Meringue. Did you find it pretty easy as long as you got the temperature right?

Yes, as long as the temp of the sugar is right....236-240...it is straightforward. It is also the most stable and easy to work with of the three main meringue buttercreams.

i prefer the Swiss meringue buttercream for mouth feel, but you have to cook that and it is a lot easier to break it and most people will never know the difference, anyway.

Watson

Yes...I screwed it up the first time that I made it, but once I realized that there is no fudging on the temperature (ie: use a candy thermometer,) it was all fine and good. Try a practice batch first.

~ C

Thank you. I knew it was the most stable. I didn’t know the Swiss one could break easily, I did know it was the one of choice for meringue buttercream but as you said most people won’t know.

Re: breaking a Swiss buttercream is usually temperature. If you can get it back to the right temp...around 72 and then beat the heck out of it it will usually come back together.

Watson

I'm 100% Italian and have never heard of this. What do you use it with? Or is it a stand alone recipe?

Basically, it's a cooked meringue. You whip your whites to a medium peak (preferably in a stand mixer) and add sugar that has been cooked to 235 to 240 degrees in a steady stream. You keep whipping until the whites are room temperature. You can use it anywhere you would use meringue - on a meringue pie, making meringue cups, etc. It is more stable than regular meringue, so it won't weep or break down as quickly as the regular one would.

bkay

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Italian Meringue
 

Italian Meringue is a buttercream frosting used on cakes. It is very much like a Swiss Meringue buttercream. Once it is prepared, you cannot bake it. The butter in it would melt and you would have a mess. There is a recipe called Never Fail Meringue (for pies, etc.) which is what you might be thinking of.

I followed along a Bluprint class how to make the different meringues. My family was in heaven that week. LOL