Eggless Meringues

Internet – the modern day village where masses gather to entertain, and to be entertained, and where Facebook along with blogs comprise message boards and news booths at the central marketplace – has been buzzing about aquafaba for some time. Although I’ve stayed away from the latest feeds for the best part of the summer, whenever I’ve connected online, recipes for this new culinary obsession have popped up on my screen.

Finally, I gave it a try, too.

It wasn’t that I craved for eggless meringues. After all, I belong to the tribe that has never understood the thrill behind veggie-burgers, mock pork-chops or imitation chicken nuggets. I mean, if you are a vegetarian, why would you enjoy dishes that echo values associated with meat? To some extent, I have the same attitude towards veganized meringues, macaroons, pavlovas and marshmallows that look pretty but simply mimic egg-based classics.

Ethics aside, I didn’t taste the meringues because of my sugar free lifestyle, but my husband indulged in them while oohing and aahing. You have to rely on his word here.

There hasn’t been scientific research or formal chemical analysis about cooked chickpea liquid, showing why it is such a competitive emulsifier, and leavening and foaming agent. It looks like someone figured out (accidentally?) in a home laboratory that the high protein content of aquafaba behaves in a similar manner than egg-whites, and to some degree, egg yolks, too.

To get aquafaba you boil whole chickpeas (after soaking them in plenty of water overnight) until they become tender, and then collect the water. When the liquid cools down it forms jelly like consistency that turns into white, hard foam when you whisk it. Add sugar, a pinch of vanilla and a squeeze of lemon; pipe the mixture on a baking tray, and slowly dehydrate it in the oven; and – voilà! – there is your batch of meringues. If you are looking for an egg-replacer, you won’t find a better one. And, no, aquafaba doesn’t taste like chickpeas.

I added beet-juice to the part of the foam but my hopes of getting pink meringues burnt when our oven over-heated. Have you ever tried to keep a wood oven around 100 C (212 F) for two hours? It’s a laborious job!

Do you see the small cracks on the meringues? They are caused by too high temperature.

Eggless Meringues

(The recipe makes about 30-40 small pieces)

3/4 cup (187 ml) aquafaba
1/2 - 3/4 cup (125 - 187 ml) caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Whip the aquafaba with an electric mixer until it becomes white and light, and forms soft peaks. A balloon whisk of a stand mixer works best. Blender isn’t suitable because the blades spin too fast and don’t aerate the foam.

Add the sugar gradually towards the end of whisking along with the vanilla and lemon. Keep processing until the mixture becomes glossy and so hard that you can turn the bowl upside down without spilling the contents.

Pipe or spoon the mixture on a baking tray.

Bake in 100 C (212 F) for 1 ½ to 2 hours until the meringues are completely dry.

Store the meringues in an airtight container. If they become moist and sticky, re-dehydrate them again in the oven.

Tips:

I pressure-cooked 400 grams (500 ml / 2 cups) chickpeas in 1 liter / 4 cups of water until only half of it was left. The chickpeas were butter-soft and the aquafaba was concentrated.

The aquafaba becomes even stronger when you refrigerate the chickpeas for a day in the same liquid you cooked them in.

You can directly use the liquid from canned chickpeas, too.

Thank you.