Meringue pie question.. why does the meringue always shrink after baking? how can i get it to stay fluffy?!
Answers: i worked so hard to get a full and fluffy meringue topping on the pie. it was beautiful. put it in the oven and browned it beautifully. took it out and sat on the stove for a couple of hours. then the high meringue peaks slowly began to sink like someone let the air out. what's up with this? any ideas how to keep this from happening? i was trying to make a pie with a hugh meringue like we used to get at Tippin's pies. help!
I can tell you two things here: First, I had this problem all the time, and it infuriated me. I kept comparing to places I had been, and I wanted so badly to have pies look like the ones you get at bakeries. I learned they used commercial meringue powder, which can be purchased at King Arthur's Baking Company. I now purchase that and you just add water. It's genius!
And second, I agree your cream of tarter might be old. Cream of tartar is actually the residue scraped off of wine barrels in the aging process of good wines. It has several purposes in the meringue process, and I believe the commercial powder meringues use the best quality of cream of tartar.
I will never go back to making my own, now that I know the secret!
If you had very stiff peaks when you put it on the pie, it may be that the cream of tarter isn't any good. If you did not have very stiff peaks, then that is your problem.