The French dessert made by whisking egg whites with sugar and baking until crisp is meringue.
Meringue is a light confection built from whipped egg whites and sugar. Beating denatures proteins in the whites, allowing them to form a stable network of bubbles that traps air. Sugar sweetens the foam and helps stabilize it. Low-temperature baking removes moisture and can produce a crisp shell or a dry, crisp texture throughout.
The dessert’s exact origin is uncertain, but the word meringue first appeared in print in François Massialot’s 1692 cookbook. Earlier English manuscripts from the 17th century describe similar baked egg-white confections. The French chef Antonin Carême later popularized piping meringue through a pastry bag rather than shaping it only with spoons.
French meringue is made by beating sugar directly into raw whites. Swiss meringue is warmed over a bain-marie while whisked, whereas Italian meringue uses hot sugar syrup poured into whipped whites. Meringue is not the same as a macaron, which uses an almond-based batter, or a soufflé, whose risen structure comes from a cooked mixture and beaten whites. Humidity can soften baked meringue because both sugar and egg whites attract water.