What Is Meringue? French, Swiss and Italian Explained
What is meringue? Meringue is egg whites whisked with sugar into a light, stiff foam, then baked slowly until crisp or cooked over heat. The three main kinds are French, Swiss and Italian, which differ in when and how the sugar goes in. Meringue is the base of pavlova, Eton mess, lemon meringue pie and baked Alaska.
At a glance
- Basicsegg whites and sugar
- 50gcaster sugar per large egg white (BBC Good Food)
- 1692the name first appears in print (Wikipedia)
- 96.0gcarbs per 100g homemade meringue (CoFID)
On this page
It's only two ingredients, yet it turns up everywhere from Christmas pavlovas to summer Eton mess. So what is meringue, exactly, and why do some recipes heat the sugar while others don't? This guide explains what meringue is made of, the difference between French, Swiss and Italian meringue, how it's baked, why it weeps, the desserts built on it and how the carbs compare.
What is meringue?
Wikipedia describes meringue as a dessert or sweet traditionally made from whipped egg whites and sugar, sometimes with an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice, vinegar or cream of tartar. The key, it says, is whisking the whites until they form stiff peaks. In English it is pronounced "muh-RANG".
BBC Food puts it in kitchen terms: a mixture of whipped egg whites and sugar, baked at a low temperature for several hours until dry on the outside and sticky on the inside. Wikipedia adds that homemade meringues are often chewy and soft with a crisp outside, while many shop-bought meringues are crisp all the way through.
The word covers the raw, glossy foam as well as the finished baked meringues. The same foam can be piped into nests, spread over a pie, folded into a mousse or beaten into Swiss meringue buttercream, which BBC Good Food makes by folding meringue into butter.
What meringue is made of
At its simplest, meringue is egg white and sugar. BBC Good Food's Mary Cadogan found the proportions matter more than you'd think: 50g of caster sugar to each large egg white. Scale down the sugar but not the whites, and the meringues come out flat. If you're wondering which sugar to use, our guide to whether caster sugar is the same as granulated sugar explains why recipes ask for the finer grains.
BBC Good Food's guide gives two rules: use eggs at room temperature for more volume, and keep every trace of yolk and fat out of the whites, because fat stops them whisking up properly. Some recipes add extras:
- Cream of tartar. Wikipedia explains that this acid helps stabilise the egg-white proteins, so they trap air in a stronger foam. Lemon juice or vinegar does a similar job.
- Cornflour and vinegar. BBC Good Food notes that these strengthen the whites in a pavlova and help give its soft, marshmallowy centre.
- Brown sugar. Mary Cadogan suggests using no more than half and half with caster, as the moisture in brown sugar can make meringues too chewy.
How egg whites become a foam
Wikipedia explains the science. Beating breaks some of the bonds holding the egg-white proteins in tight coils, so they unfold and link up into a network around tiny air bubbles. By the end, the whites swell to six to eight times their original size. Sugar is whisked in slowly: it draws water from the whites and makes the foam stronger, but adding it all at once can make the foam collapse.
Soft, medium and stiff peaks
Recipes describe whisked egg whites by the peaks they make when you lift the whisk. BBC Good Food's video guide sets out three stages:
- Soft peaks. The whites are voluminous but barely hold their shape. Used for lightening batters.
- Medium peaks. The peaks just hold, then droop. Used for soufflés.
- Stiff peaks. The whites hold their shape completely. This is when the sugar goes in for meringues.
The same guide warns against whisking too fast at the start, which can break the protein chains, and against over-whisking, which makes the whites lumpy.
Types of meringue: French, Swiss and Italian
Nigella Lawson's website describes three types of meringue. They all use egg whites and sugar; what changes is how the sugar is added and whether the mixture is heated.
| Type | How it's made | Often used for |
|---|---|---|
| French | Sugar whisked into beaten egg whites, no heat | Baked meringues, nests, pavlova |
| Swiss | Whites and sugar whisked over a pan of hot water, then beaten to stiff peaks | Pie toppings, baked Alaska, buttercream |
| Italian | Hot sugar syrup at 120°C whisked into beaten whites | Toppings that need to hold their volume |
Methods from Nigella Lawson's website and BBC Good Food. Checked 8 November 2026.
French meringue is the one most people make at home, according to Nigella. Swiss meringue is what BBC Good Food calls "a cunning chef's trick" for lemon meringue pie or baked Alaska: the whites and sugar are whisked over simmering water for about 5 minutes until thick, glossy and pure white, then spread over the filling and finished with a blowtorch or a quick flash under the grill. Italian meringue is the hardest to make, Nigella says, because the syrup must reach soft-ball stage (120°C) on a sugar thermometer, but bakers and caterers like it because it holds its volume well.
How meringues are baked
Baked meringues are dried more than cooked. BBC Good Food's ultimate meringue recipe by Angela Nilsen uses 4 large egg whites, 115g caster sugar and 115g icing sugar to make 16. The caster sugar is beaten in a dessertspoonful at a time, which the recipe says helps prevent weeping later, and the icing sugar is then sifted and folded in.
- Oven: 110°C (100°C fan, gas ¼).
- Time: 1½ to 1¾ hours in a fan oven, or 1¼ hours in a conventional or gas oven.
- Done when: they sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour.
- Lining: non-stick liner or parchment, as meringue can stick to greaseproof paper and foil.
Wikipedia notes that an even lower oven, 80°C to 90°C for up to two hours, gives meringues that are crisp all the way through. Very low, slow-baked meringues are sometimes called "forgotten cookies", because they can be left in the oven for a long time after baking has finished.
Desserts made with meringue
Meringue is a building block for many puddings. Wikipedia lists the best-known British favourites alongside dozens of others, from macarons to floating islands:
| Dessert | What it is |
|---|---|
| Pavlova | A round meringue cake, crisp outside and soft inside, topped with cream and fruit |
| Eton mess | Broken meringue, strawberries or other berries and whipped cream |
| Lemon meringue pie | A pastry case filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue |
| Baked Alaska | Ice cream and sponge covered in meringue and browned quickly |
| Meringue nests | Piped, baked meringue baskets filled with fruit or cake |
Based on Wikipedia's Meringue, Pavlova, Eton mess, Lemon meringue pie and Baked Alaska entries. Checked 8 November 2026.
Pavlova
Pavlova is named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and Wikipedia says it is believed to have been created in her honour during or after her 1920s tours of Australia and New Zealand. Both countries claim it. Unlike most meringue, which is crisp throughout, pavlova has a crisp shell and a soft, marshmallow-like centre. In Australia and New Zealand it's a favourite on Christmas Day, which falls in summer there. In Britain, Wikipedia notes, it's more likely to be topped with strawberries.
Eton mess
Wikipedia calls Eton mess a traditional English dessert, first mentioned in print in 1893 and commonly believed to come from Eton College, where it is served at the annual cricket match against Harrow. In the 1930s it was made with strawberries or bananas and ice cream or cream. Meringue was a later addition.
Lemon meringue pie and baked Alaska
Lemon meringue pie has a pastry base filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue. Wikipedia traces a lemon custard covered with baked meringue to an English cookbook of 1769, and the name "lemon meringue pie" to 1869. Baked Alaska relies on the low thermal conductivity of egg whites, Wikipedia explains: the meringue browns in a very hot oven before the ice cream underneath can melt. Wikipedia says the name was supposedly coined in 1876 at Delmonico's restaurant in New York.
Where meringue comes from
Wikipedia says the Oxford English Dictionary gives the French word's origin as unknown. The name first appeared in print in François Massialot's French cookbook of 1692, and in English in 1706, in a translation of the same book.
The earliest recipes that look like meringue are English, though. Wikipedia points to two 17th-century manuscript recipe books: "white biskit bread" in the 1604 book of Elinor Fettiplace of Gloucestershire, and "pets" in the recipes of Lady Rachel Fane of Knole, Kent. Meringues were traditionally shaped between two spoons, as most still are at home. Piping meringue from a bag is credited to the French chef Antonin Carême.
Why meringue weeps
Weeping is when beads of sugary liquid form on meringue, or a puddle seeps out underneath. Wikipedia explains that egg whites and sugar both attract water, so meringue goes soggy in a fridge or on a humid day. Undercooking can leave a puddle underneath, and overcooking can cause beads on top. French meringue weeps more when the sugar hasn't fully dissolved.
The usual fixes are the ones above: add the sugar slowly, as BBC Good Food advises, and for Italian meringue, Nigella says, make sure the syrup reaches 120°C and the whites are whisked to stiff peaks first. She also notes that a lemon meringue pie topping will tend to weep after a day or so, because the pie has to be kept in the fridge and the lemon filling is damp, so it's best eaten on the day it's made.
Carbs in meringue
Egg white itself contains almost no carbohydrate, so nearly all the carbs in meringue come from the sugar. CoFID, the UK's food composition tables, lists homemade meringue and several meringue desserts:
| Food (per 100g) | Carbs | Sugars | kcal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egg white, raw | Trace | Trace | 43 |
| Meringue, homemade | 96.0g | 96.0g | 385 |
| Meringue with cream | 27.2g | 27.2g | 331 |
| Pavlova, fruit and cream | 42.2g | 41.0g | 244 |
| Lemon meringue pie | 43.5g | 29.3g | 251 |
CoFID 2021: Eggs, chicken, white, raw (12-938); Meringue, homemade (12-517); Meringue, with cream, homemade (12-585); Pavlova, with fruit and cream (12-552); Pie, lemon meringue, retail (11-548). UK carbohydrate figures don't include fibre. Checked 8 November 2026.
Meringue weighs very little, so a single one has fewer carbs than the per-100g figure suggests. BBC Good Food's ultimate meringue lists 14g of carbohydrate and 14g of sugars per serving, across 16 servings. That matches the recipe's 230g of sugar shared between 16, which is about 14g each.
If you're cutting carbs
Because sugar does structural work in meringue, helping to hold the foam together as Wikipedia describes, a straight swap for a sweetener won't behave in quite the same way, and the texture is likely to differ. For a lower-carb pudding, it's often easier to change what goes around the meringue, or skip it.
- Whipped cream and berries. The cream-and-fruit part of an Eton mess or pavlova can be sweetened with our Powdered Erythritol & Stevia Blend. Its product page lists whipped cream among its uses and says to use it 1:1 in place of icing sugar.
- Lemon flavour without the pie. Our keto lemon curd recipe is made with whole eggs, fresh lemons and butter, and lists 0.4g net carbs per tablespoon.
- A chocolate finish. BBC Food suggests covering meringue desserts in melted chocolate. Our Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons are 64% cocoa minimum and sweetened with erythritol and stevia, as stated on the product page.
- Leftover yolks. Every meringue leaves egg yolks behind. They're the base of a proper custard, explained in our guide to what custard is.
If you're planning a festive dessert, last order date for Christmas delivery is 18 December 2026.
Swiss meringue toppings that are only blowtorched, and French meringue folded into mousses, contain raw or lightly cooked egg. The Food Standards Agency says vulnerable groups, including young children, older people and those who are pregnant, can safely eat raw or lightly cooked hen eggs, or foods containing them, if the eggs have a British Lion mark or are produced under the Laid in Britain scheme. This does not apply to people who are severely immunocompromised and need medically supervised diets.
Product details are as shown on each product page. Free delivery on orders over £30.
Meringue contains egg, and meringue desserts often add milk (cream) and, in pies and sponges, wheat. Our Powdered and Granulated Erythritol & Stevia Blends contain erythritol, a polyol, and excessive consumption of polyols may produce laxative effects. Our Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons product page says they contain sweeteners and that excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect. Always check the pack for full allergen information.
Key takeaways
- Meringue is whisked egg white and sugar. Sometimes with cream of tartar, lemon juice or vinegar.
- There are three main types. French is unheated; Swiss is whisked over hot water; Italian uses a hot sugar syrup.
- Baked meringue is dried slowly. BBC Good Food bakes it at 110°C for over an hour.
- Humidity makes it weep. Sugar and egg white both attract water.
- The sugar holds the carbs. CoFID lists homemade meringue at 96.0g carbs per 100g.
Frequently asked questions
What is meringue made of?
Meringue is made of egg whites and sugar, whisked until the whites form a stiff, glossy foam. BBC Good Food uses 50g of caster sugar to each large egg white. Some recipes add a little cream of tartar, lemon juice or vinegar to stabilise the foam, and pavlova adds cornflour for a soft centre.
What is the difference between French, Swiss and Italian meringue?
French meringue is made by whisking sugar into beaten egg whites without heat. Swiss meringue is whisked over a pan of hot water until the sugar dissolves, then beaten to stiff peaks. Italian meringue has hot sugar syrup, heated to 120°C, whisked into the whites. Nigella Lawson says Italian holds its volume best.
What is the difference between meringue and pavlova?
Pavlova is a type of meringue. It is shaped into a round cake, and cornflour and vinegar are usually added, which BBC Good Food says strengthen the whites. Wikipedia notes that pavlova has a crisp shell and a soft, marshmallow-like centre, while ordinary meringue is usually crisp throughout. It's topped with whipped cream and fruit.
Why does meringue weep?
Egg whites and sugar both attract water, so meringue can form sugary beads or a puddle in a fridge or on a humid day. Wikipedia says undercooking and overcooking both cause weeping, and French meringue weeps more when the sugar hasn't dissolved. BBC Good Food advises adding the sugar slowly, a spoonful at a time.
How many carbs are in meringue?
Nearly all the carbs in meringue come from the sugar, as egg white contains only a trace. CoFID lists homemade meringue at 96.0g carbohydrate per 100g. Meringues are light, though: BBC Good Food's ultimate meringue lists 14g of carbohydrate per serving, across 16 servings. A meringue with cream is 27.2g per 100g.
Sources
- BBC Good Food. How to make meringues by Mary Cadogan (sugar ratio, eggs, pavlova, brown sugar, Swiss meringue), Ultimate meringue by Angela Nilsen (ingredients, method, oven and nutrition per serving), How to make meringues video (peak stages) and Meringue Week recipes (Swiss meringue buttercream). Checked 8 November 2026.
- BBC Food. Meringue recipes (definition and serving ideas). Checked 8 November 2026.
- Nigella Lawson. Different types of meringue and weeping (French, Swiss and Italian methods, syrup temperature, pie toppings). Checked 8 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Meringue (definition, pronunciation, history, chemistry, weeping, baking and desserts). Checked 8 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Pavlova, Eton mess, Lemon meringue pie, Baked Alaska and Potassium bitartrate (cream of tartar) (origins, ingredients and uses). Checked 8 November 2026.
- Food Standards Agency. Food Fact Check: Can you get salmonella from eggs? (raw and lightly cooked eggs). Checked 8 November 2026.
- Public Health England / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Composition of foods integrated dataset (CoFID) 2021 (codes 12-938, 12-517, 12-585, 12-552 and 11-548). Checked 8 November 2026.
- Groovy Keto product pages: Powdered Erythritol & Stevia Blend, Granulated Erythritol & Stevia Blend and Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons (sizes, ingredients, usage and label lines as shown). Checked 8 November 2026.
