Easy meringue recipes

Use your meringue technique to create stunning desserts, including lemon meringue pie, pavlova and Eton mess.

How to make perfect meringues

Which eggs should I use to make meringues? You need fresh eggs for meringues, the fresher the better. Utensils without any grease on them (including from egg yolks) are essential for making meringues, or the whites will be difficult, if not impossible to whisk. A glass or metal bowl will work better than a plastic one as fat clings to plastic.

How do I know when my meringues are cooked? Make sure your meringues are thoroughly cooked and don’t be tempted to take them out early. Under cooked meringues weep uncooked egg white from the bottom; overcooked meringues end up with beads of sugary moisture on top.

Why do I need to cool meringues? Leave the meringues to cool in the oven so they dry out thoroughly. Because of their high sugar-content they will always be susceptible to absorbing moisture from the air, so making them on a humid day or in a steamy kitchen may end in a stickier meringue.

How do I crack eggs? Separating the egg yolk and white can be a traumatic ordeal for the novice baker whilst making meringues. But once you have nailed the old crack and divide, the top tip is to avoid touching the whites with your hands whilst doing so. As they generate dirt and fat from your hands will stop the egg whites from whisking up to stiff peaks.

How do I line a baking tray to bake meringues? When lining the tray with parchment paper don’t put any fat/butter on the tray to make the paper stick, this fat will react with the protein in the egg and stop them from cooking correctly.

How do I create stiff meringues? Whisking up egg whites to make meringues can be difficult. Add a pinch of cream of tartar and egg white powder (meriwhite) to the egg whites whilst whisking and you will get stiff peaks in no time.

Meringue recipes

Perfect lemon meringue pie

Learn how to make our easy lemon meringue pie recipe. This lemon meringue is an impressive dinner party dessert with crisp pastry, tart curd and fluffy meringue that's easy to make. What more could you want?

Lemon curd and blueberry roulade

Crisp on the outside, marshmallowy on the inside and packed with flavours of the summer, this is a surprisingly easy yet showstopping summer dessert.

Mini pavlovas with white chocolate cream and rosé raspberry syrup

Go old-school with these mini pavlovas, raised above and beyond with white chocolate cream and rosé raspberry syrup.

Black forest meringue tower

Impress friends and family over the festive season with our stunning black forest meringue tower. This gorgeous dessert is filled with dark chocolate ganache, boozy cherries and mascarpone cream. Pure indulgence!

Hazelnut meringues with chantilly cream

Toasted hazelnuts bring a sweet and nutty depth to these meringues, topped with creamy vanilla chantilly cream and a sprinkling of golden nut brittle.

Griddled peach pavlova with mascarpone cream

Check out this classic family dessert recipe. With just the right amount of crunch on the outside and chewy marshmallow filling this impressive foolproof recipe will make a show-stopping dessert at your next summer dinner party.

Eton mess cheesecake

We've combined two classic British summertime favourites into one seriously indulgent dessert. This fresh and creamy Eton mess cheesecake is the perfect pudding to impress your friends and family with this weekend.

Vegan eton mess

Treat vegan friends to our quick and easy eton mess. Who'd have thought aquafaba (the liquid found in a tin of chickpeas) could make such glossy, chewy meringue? Pair it with coconut yogurt and lots of berries for a great vegan mess.

Pistachio and rosewater meringues

Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi of London-based restaurant and deli Ottolenghi say the secret to their famous meringues is a good freestanding electric mixer. Making them by hand is out of the question (your arm muscles would never cope) and using a handheld electric mixer is not practical – the mixture gets too firm for most machines. They recommend heating the sugar to help it cook the egg white as the meringue is being beaten, this gives a stable mixture.

Double chocolate-walnut meringue cookies

These dark and white chocolate meringue cookies are an easy afternoon treat, crisp on the outside and soft and gooey in the middle.

Elderflower and kiwi pavlova

Elderflower, kiwi and pavlova: three words we love. Put them all together in this meringue dinner party dessert recipe, designed to impress friends and family.

Cassis meringues with champagne cream

This cassis meringue wreath with champagne cream is a real show-stopping dessert but it's easy to make for the festive season.

Chocolate meringue brownies

Chocolate brownies in cute cupcake form, topped with light and fluffy meringue for an extra special twist. Serve these easy brownies with tea and enjoy the compliments!

Meringues

Making perfect meringue is a great skill to master and only takes two ingredients - egg whites and sugar. They make a great base for an Eton mess or as a low fat treat.

Raspberry meringue pie

We love lemon meringue pie, but we've given it an update with this raspberry version. It's easy to make but looks really impressive, plus, you can make it ahead, making it perfect for a dinner party dessert.

Chocolate-dipped meringues with cherries and boozy cream

Check out these chocolate-dipped meringues with cherries and boozy cream. This recipe is really simple and incredibly moreish, a great summer dessert.

Limoncello meringue pie

This is a great way to make use of lemons. Italian meringue is made with hot sugar syrup rather than regular sugar. This starts to cook and stabilise the egg white, so it needs no further cooking in the oven. You’ll need a sugar thermometer to get the right consistency for the syrup.

Passion fruit tart with meringue

This passion fruit tart with meringue is a real show-stopping dessert - perfect for a dinner party. We use Billington’s golden caster sugar because we like the flavour, but it will make the meringue slightly less white than you may be used to.

Chocolate and hazelnut meringue semifreddo

The Italian dessert, semifreddo, is an ice cream with a mousse-like texture. This recipe not only looks impressive, but can be made in advance for easy dinner party entertaining. Plus, there's no churning required.

Strawberry and passion fruit meringue roulade

The best recipe for a sweet roulade is an easy one. This recipe, with strawberries and passion fruit looks as good as it tastes. Serve to friends and family, they will love it.

Meringue frosted cupcakes

Choosing between pavlova and cake is futile when you can combine the two. These coconut cupcakes look fancy but are deceptively unchallenging to put together. Serve to guests with ice cream as a dinky dessert. Try our fun cupcake recipes here...

Very berry pavlova

Pavlova is a classic summer pud but it can be tricky to get right. Don't worry though, with step-by-step help from olive's test kitchen, you can create this show-stopping pud.

Apple snow

If you like your desserts light as air this one's for you. Fluffy meringue is used as a topping for a sweetened apple compote then baked until golden. Serve for a special family gathering or a dinner party for friends.

Rhubarb mess with candied rosemary

This is a delicious new twist on the classic Eton mess, made with rhubarb instead of strawberries. Rhubarb is in season around February time and parters perfectly with rosemary.

Pistachio meringues recipe with cream

Try this recipe for soft-centered meringue sandwiches, packed with pistachio and generously smeared with cream. Use low fat yogurt for a healthy version – even more reason to dive in for seconds!