Why meringue shrinks

Consider the following recipe for a meringue that does not weep. It is a little more work but is often worth the time. In a medium metal or ceramic bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together.

When soft peaks are formed, drizzle in the sugar while beating. Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. In a saucepan, dissolve the cornstarch into water. Heat and stir until it is bubbling and thickened. Drizzle the hot syrup into the egg whites while beating slowly with the electric mixer. Continue beating until the egg whites are at full volume and stiff peaks are formed. With a spatula, spread the meringue topping on the filling. Press the topping against the crust so that the meringue will adhere to the crust during baking.

The sugar to egg white ratio is critical to get right if you do not want your meringue to shrink. Egg whites are are comprised mostly of water but it also contains protein. When you whip an egg white the protein molecules are moved into new positions.

Whipping an egg white causes the proteins to be less closely linked to each other and the water molecules. This space created by whipping allows air pockets into the space between the molecules. When you overbeat an egg white the proteins tighten together which causes the moisture to pushed out of the foam and the meringue breaks down. The proteins will also lose their elasticity.

Still concerned you won't be able to stop meringue from weeping? We feel you. Here are some extra measures to help prevent weeping and keep meringue from shrinking. The less time the meringue spends in the oven, the less likely you are to overbake the meringue and cause weeping. As it turns out, undercooking and overcooking can both cause weeping meringue and unwanted moisture on top of your pie aka beading.

Overcooking meringue causes those little sugary drops of moisture on top of baked meringues. It is difficult to prevent this, as most recipes now bake longer at lower temperatures to cook the egg whites enough to eliminate any risk of salmonella.

Our Test Kitchen recommends following the recipe, beating, and baking as written. The watery layer between the meringue and the filling weeping is usually caused by undercooking. This is where it is important to put your meringue onto hot filling so it can begin cooking right away.

Once your pie is finished, store it correctly by covering and chilling it so the meringue will be as beautiful as it was right out of the oven. Now that you have this newfound weeping meringue knowledge, you can get back to the kitchen to start baking all the delicious cream pie recipes from scratch with less worry. Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team.

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