I don’t like using cream of tartar in Meringue. I think it makes it too stiff. I like a nice, light meringue and only a little on the pie.
Ingredients:
egg whites
sugar
Preparation:
Use 1/4 cup sugar for every 2 egg whites.
Put the egg whites in a medium-sized mixing bowl. The volume will expand quite a bit, so the egg whites should look dwarfed in the bowl.
Set your power egg-beater on low and begin beating the egg whites.
Slowly add the sugar, mixing thoroughly as you add it. Move the beater around the bowl or spin the bowl as you add the sugar.
Once you’ve added the sugar, continue rotating the bowl or moving the beater around until you see stiff peaks.
Most instructions for making meringue will tell you to continue beating until you see soft peaks, but that’s when using the cream of tartar.
After you see the stiff peaks, you’re done. If you’re making the meringue for a pie, when you put the meringue on the pie, spread it out and make sure the meringue touches the crust at the edges. That’ll keep it from shrinking as much when you bake it again to brown the meringue.
To brown the meringue, preheat the oven to 350 and bake the pie for 10 to 12 minutes.
One other thing I like to do with meringue is to get little peaks when on the pie. Use the back-side of a spoon or a fork, I like a teaspoon. Gently press the back of the spoon into the meringue and pull straight up until the spoon is free from the meringue. This should make tiny little peaks which will brown nicely when you re-bake the pie.