Help with swiss meringue kisses please (1 Viewer)

[Vita]

Hi! Could anyone please tell me why my meringue kisses turned all bumpy onve baked? I had made swiss meringue and its looked super glossy amd smooth when going in and mostly through the baking process. In tge end though they turned all bumpy and rough looking.. Baked at 100C for 1h20mins(until i could easily remove from the paper) i would attach a photo but not sure how to do it..
Much appreciate some help please, and thanks!

 

[Joan]

Welcome to the site Vita, sorry I can't help with your question but if you just wait for a short time Angie should see your post and give you all the help you need, have a good look around while you wait I'm sure you'll find lots of useful information that is sure to help with any future bakes you do.

 

[Angie]

Hi Vita

Welcome to the site.

There may be a few reasons why your Meringue Kisses are grainy/bumpy. My first thought is that the sugar hasn't dissolved properly when you have mixed the batch. Having too much or too little sugar affects the structure of the meringue and can give you grainy or bumpy results when baked.

I'm not sure what sugar you have used but make sure you use something like Caster Sugar instead of Granulated, as this has smaller sugar crystals and dissolves easier into the mixture.

I know you said the mixture looked smooth, but a good way to check if your mixture has been incorporated properly is to rub a little between your thumb and forefinger. If the mixture feels grainy, mix for a little longer and then test again, ensuring that your mix feels smooth.

Your temperature sounds okay, so I'm wondering if they might have needed baking for a little longer? If you're happy with the bake time, once baked, always leave the meringues in the oven with the door ajar so that they can fully dry out and acclimatise before removing them. Then store them in an air-tight container.

If you're not happy with the overall look of them but they taste good, you can always crush them up and use them as toppings for ice cream, cupcakes or a deconstructed strawberry shortcake.

I do hope some of the above is of help to you, and hopefully, you'll be whipping up a lovely batch of kisses in no time!

 

[Vita]

Hi Vita

Welcome to the site.

There may be a few reasons why your Meringue Kisses are grainy/bumpy. My first thought is that the sugar hasn't dissolved properly when you have mixed the batch. Having too much or too little sugar affects the structure of the meringue and can give you grainy or bumpy results when baked.

I'm not sure what sugar you have used but make sure you use something like Caster Sugar instead of Granulated, as this has smaller sugar crystals and dissolves easier into the mixture.

I know you said the mixture looked smooth, but a good way to check if your mixture has been incorporated properly is to rub a little between your thumb and forefinger. If the mixture feels grainy, mix for a little longer and then test again, ensuring that your mix feels smooth.

Your temperature sounds okay, so I'm wondering if they might have needed baking for a little longer? If you're happy with the bake time, once baked, always leave the meringues in the oven with the door ajar so that they can fully dry out and acclimatise before removing them. Then store them in an air-tight container.

If you're not happy with the overall look of them but they taste good, you can always crush them up and use them as toppings for ice cream, cupcakes or a deconstructed strawberry shortcake.

I do hope some of the above is of help to you, and hopefully, you'll be whipping up a lovely batch of kisses in no time!

Thanka so much for the reply!
I used granulated sugar and egg whites heated to 71C until fully dissolved (thats how i do it when preparing swiss meringue buttercream)
Im actually thinking could it be overbaked thata why it turned this way? As i said it was perfectly smooth once in with no granules visible (couldn't feel any either when touching or tasting)
I wanted them for decorating a cake so sadly this look wont do.. Im sure ill use them uo with some yummy strawberries from the garden either way

 

[Angie]

Hi Vita

Granulated sugar can leave you with pitted/grainy marks on the meringue even if the original structure of it was smooth as sometimes it doesn't dissolve as well in the mixture as finer sugars do. However, if you're happy with the way it works and the quantities of sugar you used (and you've obviously used it before), then we could possibly rule this out. Either that or you could try using a finer sugar and see if that helps any.

If you had beading when baked (droplets of sugar, then yes), I would say there were overbaked. But I'm wondering because the bumps seem to be sat under the exterior, whether extra moisture has been absorbed into the meringue which has played havoc with the baking process. If it was rainy or humid when you made them, the mix could have absorbed extra water, which can weaken the meringue's structure and cause the exterior not to form properly or become too thin.

When baking meringue, it's always best to let them dry out fully in the oven, and when you removed them, they peeled easily from the paper, so they were obviously baked.

Baking times vary in different ovens, so what you could do is re-make the kisses and then look at them after about an hour. If they remove from the paper easily, then just switch off the oven and allow them to fully dry out with the door ajar.

The problem with meringue is they can be very temperamental, so it could, unfortunately, be one or a multitude of things depending on the given day.

Another thing I always suggest is comparing other recipes against the tried and tested ones you are using. That way, you can gauge times, temps and quantities and see how others have faired using those.

Apologies for the delay in replying to this, but we had Prom Day yesterday, so things have been a bit hectic.