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  4. 16 Heavenly Meringue Desserts

16 Heavenly Meringue Desserts

By Food & Wine Editors Updated August 05, 2022
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Sweet potato meringue pie
Credit: © TINA RUPP

Meringue is an indispensable component in an array of desserts, lending its airy lightness to everything from pavlovas to baked Alaska to classic French macarons. Ethereal and cloud-like, it can be swirled and brûléed to produce crispy caramel peaks atop a pie. You can also fold in nuts or chocolate and bake it slow and low to yield delicately crisp, melt-in-your-mouth pillows to be enjoyed on their own or layered with cream. Here are 16 of our most magnificent meringue desserts.

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Cornhusk Meringues with Corn Mousse

Cornhusk Meringues with Corn Mousse
Credit: © Con Poulos
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This beloved dessert from chef Enrique Olvera features shatteringly crisp charred cornhusk meringues. They're served with a luscious cream mousse made from fresh corn-infused cream and mascarpone cheese; the result is ethereal and unexpected.

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Raspberry Macarons

Raspberry Macarons
Credit: Michael Turek
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These are among the simplest classic French macarons, made with only sugar, almond flour, egg whites, red food coloring — and a filling of raspberry jam. The jam is the star of the show, so be sure to purchase the finest seedless raspberry jam you can find.

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Frozen Chocolate Chip Meringata

Frozen Chocolate-Chip Meringata
Credit: © MARTIN MORRELL
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Meringata — Italian for "meringue cake" — is an elegant yet homey frozen dessert of whipped cream sandwiched between meringue rounds. Italian fine food importer and cookbook author Rolando Beramendi serves it with a warm chocolate-espresso sauce.

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Hazelnut and Chocolate Meringue Cake

Hazelnut-and-chocolate meringue cake
Credit: © Stephanie Foley
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This extraordinary dessert, made with crisp chocolate-hazelnut meringue and whipped cream, is simple to make. But pastry chef Daniel Jasso has nicknamed it "the beast" because slicing it can be tricky — the meringue tends to crumble. The solution: Freeze the cake, cut it with a serrated knife, and let it return to room temperature before serving.

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Summer Berries with Cumin Meringues and Crème Fraîche

Summer Berries with Cumin Meringues and Crème Fraîche
Credit: © KELLER + KELLER
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A touch of cumin gives these crisp meringues a welcome warmth that pairs beautifully with a trio of sweet and juicy summer berries and a dollop of tangy crème fraîche. Aromatic and floral ground cardamom or fresh and herbal ground coriander may be substituted for the cumin, or the spice can be omitted altogether.

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Not Your Usual Lemon Meringue Pie

Not Your Usual Lemon Meringue Pie
Credit: © Quentin Bacon
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In her variation of lemon meringue pie, pastry chef and cookbook author Gale Gand forgoes a traditional crust for quick-baked sheets of sugared phyllo dough, which she layers with housemade lemon curd and a brown sugar meringue. For an easier version, use good quality store-bought phyllo dough and lemon curd.

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Chilled Grapefruit-Caramel Meringue Pie

Grapefruit-Caramel Meringue Pie
Credit: © Tina Rupp
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Most pastry chefs love lemon and orange, but for this recipe Deborah Snyder champions grapefruit. In one cold, creamy dessert, she layers pink grapefruit curd in a crunchy graham cracker crust with caramel cream, caramel sauce, and a delicate topping of fluffy meringue.

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Brutti ma Buoni (Spiced Pecan Meringues)

Spiced Italian Pecan Meringues
Credit: John Kernick
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"Don't judge the taste of these cookies by the crags and cracks," says Los Angeles-based chef Merrin Mae Gray. (The Italian name means "ugly but good.") The pecans and potent grappa are unexpectedly elegant, and the crisp outsides and chewy centers make these meringues seriously irresistible.

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Mom's Citrus Meringue Pie

Mom's Citrus Meringue Pie
Credit: Greg DuPree
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In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best. It starts with a crust made with fresh orange juice, that's filled with tangy lemon-lime curd, then gets dressed up with swirls of sweet meringue that caramelize in the oven.

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Sweet Potato Meringue Pie

Sweet potato meringue pie
Credit: © TINA RUPP
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This dessert from 2000 F&W Best New Chef Andrew Carmellini looks like a pumpkin pie, but the filling is actually made with sweet potato. It sits on a spiced graham cracker-pecan crust and is topped with billowy meringue instead of the typical whipped cream.

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Maple-Meringue Doughnuts

Maple Meringue Donuts Recipe
Credit: Tara Donne
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The secret to doughnuts at home is in the dough: Retarding the shaped doughnuts allows a more complex, yeasty flavor to develop. Pastry chef Joanne Chang's recipe is filled with marshmallowy meringue; use an intense, robust, high-quality maple syrup to ensure lots of maple flavor.

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Double-Decker Meringue Cake with Summer Berries

Double Decker Meringue Cake with Summer Berries Recipe
Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
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The meringue topping expands as this stunning cake bakes, so be careful not to spread it all the way to the edges of the cake batter to make removing the cake from the pan easier. Top with whatever berries are in season at your market, or use your favorite sliced stone fruit.

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Swirled Meringue Roulade with Praline Whipped Cream

Swirled Meringue Roulade with Praline Whipped Cream
Credit: © John Kernick
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Cookbook author Malika Ameen rolls her cocoa-laced meringue around pillowy whipped cream and crunchy, nutty praline for an utterly delectable, totally elegant roulade. A garnish of blackberries or pomegranate seeds makes this dessert even more eye-catching.

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S'mores Bars with Marshmallow Meringue

S'mores Bars with Marshmallow Meringue
Credit: © Con Poulos
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These amazingly delicious bars from cookbook authors and baking duo Cheryl and Griffith Day feature a salty, crunchy graham cracker crust topped with a rich chocolate filling and fluffy marshmallow meringue.

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Strawberry Baked Alaska

Strawberry Baked Alaska
Credit: © Con Poulos
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Chef Andrea Reusing makes every part of these lovely individual baked Alaskas from scratch — even the graham crackers for the base. Our recipe calls for store-bought grahams, and if making homemade ice cream isn't your thing, you can sub in a good prepared brand. Use a pastry torch to brown the meringue topping and serve with macerated strawberries.

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Spiced Pavlovas with Oranges and Mulled Wine Caramel

Spiced Pavlovas with Oranges and Mulled Wine Caramel
Credit: Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee
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In this recipe, the aromas of a Bavarian Christmas market — glühwein, toasted almonds, spiced cookies — are infused into the components of a classic pavlova: Sweet cinnamon meringue is topped with tangy quark and crowned with bright citrus and mulled wine caramel.

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    1 of 16 Cornhusk Meringues with Corn Mousse
    2 of 16 Raspberry Macarons
    3 of 16 Frozen Chocolate Chip Meringata
    4 of 16 Hazelnut and Chocolate Meringue Cake
    5 of 16 Summer Berries with Cumin Meringues and Crème Fraîche
    6 of 16 Not Your Usual Lemon Meringue Pie
    7 of 16 Chilled Grapefruit-Caramel Meringue Pie
    8 of 16 Brutti ma Buoni (Spiced Pecan Meringues)
    9 of 16 Mom's Citrus Meringue Pie
    10 of 16 Sweet Potato Meringue Pie
    11 of 16 Maple-Meringue Doughnuts
    12 of 16 Double-Decker Meringue Cake with Summer Berries
    13 of 16 Swirled Meringue Roulade with Praline Whipped Cream
    14 of 16 S'mores Bars with Marshmallow Meringue
    15 of 16 Strawberry Baked Alaska
    16 of 16 Spiced Pavlovas with Oranges and Mulled Wine Caramel

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