There are three basic types of meringue: French, Swiss, and Italian. While they all use egg whites as the primary ingredient, each style has its unique preparation method that affects its texture and taste.

A simple uncooked meringue is made by beating egg whites, and adding in sugar until very stiff, shiny peaks form. Due to concerns about possible bacteria in raw eggs, powdered egg whites or pasteurized eggs found in the refrigerated section of your grocery store are recommended. Italian and Swiss meringues are cooked.

Hard meringue contains two times as much sugar as soft meringue. In both cases, the secret to success is to wait to add sugar until the egg whites have risen well and formed soft peaks. In fact, if you add sugar too soon, the meringue will take longer to form stiff peaks… and it will have less volume.

French (Simple) Meringue This is the most common and easiest to make of the meringues and is known as an 'uncooked' meringue. Egg whites are whisked until soft peaks form.