meringue, mixture of stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar that is used in confections and desserts. The invention of meringue in 1720 is attributed to a Swiss pastry cook named Gasparini.
Meringues are eaten as small “kisses” or as cases and toppings for fruits, ice cream, puddings, and the like. Shapes are piped onto a baking sheet through a pastry bag and dried out thoroughly in a slow oven. They are not ordinarily browned but remain an ivory colour. Vacherins and schaumtorten are plain meringue shells; dacquoise is a meringue with ground nuts and cornstarch added. Italian meringue, in which the sugar takes the form of a hot syrup, is used to cover puddings and ice creams.
In the United States, a soft, moist meringue is used to top pies, especially lemon meringue pie. Another famous American meringue dessert is baked Alaska: a hard-frozen block of ice cream is placed on a layer of spongecake, and the whole is covered with uncooked meringue, and quickly browned in a hot oven and served immediately, so that the meringue is warm but the ice cream still frozen.