My First Meringue
Chocolate cream pie with a meringue topping is a two person job (especially if you don't have a standing mixer, although women for years made it without one). One of the key elements of putting the whole thing together is to spread the freshly whipped meringue over a piping-hot filling, so the meringue sort of cooks on contact and doesn't break down and weep. So I have my arms stretched across our small kitchen, stirring the bubbling chocolate custard with one hand while I hold the running mixer in the meringue with the other. The other key is to prevent shrinking by spreading the meringue to cover all the edges of the pie.
I did have a problem, though. As the pie sat, sweet little amber-colored beads formed on top of the meringue. It wasn't exactly weeping in the traditional sense, where there's a watery layer between the meringue and the filling. I was thinking maybe it was because the meringue was overcooked, because the recipe I used cooked it at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. But the texture of the meringue was just what I like, foamy but solid, so I'm not sure that's it. Any ideas?
The beads sound like caramel. Probably the meringue was either over-sugared or under-whisked -- either way condensation once it came out of a hot oven (either due to steam escaping from the center of the meringue or due to humidity in the kitchen) might dissolve sugar crystals on the surface, leaving beads of caramel as the water evaporated.
Of course, that's just a guess. You don't want to over-whisk a meringue; that just makes it too dry and difficult to work with.
It kind of tasted and looked like caramel, so that makes sense! Oversugaring sounds like it could be my problem. I was halfway through the recipe when I realized I was using four egg whites instead of three, so I added more sugar to compensate. That probably did it.
My fridge tends to be pretty moist, too, so I'm sure that didn't help.
I'm sure there are many customers who don't even know the difference.Don't you hate it when people insult your intelligence like that? You wonder how they stay in business.
That sounds like the kind of primitive attitude you get in a lot of restaurants here in Miami. I wonder if the Cami's there is related to the Cami's seafood restaurants here? I enjoy your writing and the attention you pay to eating good food.