Name: Italian Meringue (Magnificent Pie Meringue)
Yield: Makes enough meringue for two 9-inch (23-cm) pies or one “Mile-High” meringue
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon (7 g) cornstarch; ⅓ cup (79 ml) cool water; 6 large egg whites (6 oz/170 g); 1 teaspoon (3g) cream of tartar; 2 cups (14 oz/397 g) sugar, divided; 1 tablespoon (15 ml) light corn syrup; ½ cup (118 ml) water; 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract; ¼ teaspoon (1.5 g) salt

Photo of Italian Meringue in a bowl with a leveling knife.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton

This very stable Italian meringue is incredibly versatile—it makes magnificent billowy white peaks to brown as you wish. It is a large recipe—6 egg whites—so that you have an abundance of this great meringue. Of course, you can easily halve this recipe. To transform it into Italian meringue buttercream, just add butter.

Recipe notes

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