Best Meringue Powder: Advice & Tips

Used instead of eggs, meringue powder is an essential ingredient for making royal icing, sugar skulls (think dia de los Muertos), meringue buttercream and yes, meringue.

Take the process of making meringue buttercream icing. Without the powder, you’d have to whip egg whites and then gradually add a hot sugar mixture . . . so you don’t cook the eggs. Then you must add in room-temperature butter.

With meringue powder, you avoid all that fuss.

There are also vegan-friendly versions of meringue powder, for those wanted to avoid eggs (made from chickpeas).

Here is some advice and tips for working with meringue powder:

• Shelf stable. Most meringue powder is shelf stable, so it can be stored in a cool dry place for months before you need it.

• Add a bit of extra meringue powder to your recipe if you live in a humid climate. The extra moisture content in the air makes this a necessary step.

• Don’t overmix. Use the lowest speed on your mixer (when making royal icing). You don’t want too much air in the mixture.

After trying out several brands in batches of meringue buttercream icing, we think these are the best bets.

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