Homemade Vegan Meringue

When I think of meringue, I think of my mother who loves the candy more than anything and used to eat a LOT of it. Julia also loved meringue as a child and always got in trouble for crumbling it all over her father's car's back seat. Contrary to this, I didn't eat meringue very often, and once I went vegan, we parted ways completely. But never say never, right?! We asked you on Instagram for a little challenge for us, and between hundreds of suggestions, I read "vegan meringue" and immediately knew: I have to try this! So today, I show you my recipe for it. Packed as a small gift, I will surprise my mother with it and I'm really curious if she will like it just as much as the original. But before that, I have a few tips for you which will help you with this recipe. Because you have to whip and dry aquafaba it's not as easy as some other recipes of ours, but it was also about a little challenge, right?

Which aquafaba is best to use?

Aquafaba is the canned liquid of legumes, but chickpeas are the most commonly used. When you're buying them, look for a "drained weight" label because the difference between the can and the drained weight is the amount of canned liquid (aquafaba) that you'll need for the recipe. Some varieties of chickpeas are not canned in liquid, so make sure you get the right ones.

Drying in the oven, dehydrator, or in open air?

We tested all of the above options and have to say that our meringue turned out best in the dehydrator. They become wonderfully crunchy this way as all the moisture is perfectly extracted. The recipe also works well in the oven, but you should make sure that you open the oven door every now and then to make sure that the moisture can escape. In open air, the meringue actually reaches the right consistency only in winter. In summer, the humidity is usually too high, so they tend to draw moisture instead of drying. However, even in summer it can still take a few hours or days until the meringue is dry enough.

Whisking with a whisk, hand mixer, or stand mixer?

When it comes to whipping aquafaba, we can only recommend a powerful stand mixer. With a whisk only, it's almost impossible to muster the strength and patience that's needed to whip aquafaba until it's stable. You won't do yourself any favors with a hand mixer either because you'll have to hold it the entire time – after five minutes at the most, it gets pretty tedious.

We whipped the aquafaba in the "Cooking Chef XL" from Kenwood and it worked out great! Thanks to the integrated scale, we were able to weigh all the ingredients directly inside the bowl, and with the help of the "whip egg whites" program, the aquafaba turned into a wonderfully fluffy and stable foam. Of course, you can prepare more than just sweet recipes in this stand mixer. Thanks to the integrated induction technology, the temperature in the bowl can be regulated from 20°C/68°F to 180°C/360°F in 1°C/34°F steps – with this, you can even sear or simmer ingredients. Crazy, right?