Lemon meringues

Balance and thrift. Two reasons why recipes that use only one part of an egg (either yolk or white) and don’t offer a companion recipe that uses the remaining eggy part irk me a bit.

As a result, I look for complementary recipes to use up the other part of the egg. Making Frangipan Pie? Got extra whites? Look no further than this 18th-century Louisbourg recipe for lemon meringues.

And if you are in my situation, unable to find the candied lemon peel in any store, you can easily make some yourself.

Recipe modified slightly from From the Hearth. Makes 12-14 meringues.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon peel/zest
2 tbsp candied lemon peel, chopped (small or large)

I didn’t actually add the lemon zest, because all my lemons had already gone into making the candied peel! But the meringues still turned out plenty lemony.

I chopped up my candied peel into small pieces for this, but you could use larger pieces if you want.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200F. 

Put sugar, egg whites, lemon juice and lemon rind in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. 

Fold in candied lemon peel. 

Spoon onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 200F for about 2 hours, or until golden brown. (It took much longer for mine to reach golden brown, but I made them much bigger). 

The Verdict

Even without the lemon zest, these were plenty lemon-y. The bits of candied peel were chewy and the meringues were crisp. Definitely will make these again.

What’s your complementary yolk-using recipe to these lemon meringues? Let us know in the comments!