Aquafaba Files
How to Make Vegan Meringues
Light as a feather, these delicious whipped aquafaba meringues are just as good as “the real thing” — heck, they ARE the real thing
The Aquafaba Files is a Tenderly recipe series by Laura Vincent, exploring the almost suspicious versatility of this ingredient that is little more than the leftover liquid from a drained can of chickpeas.
Since aquafaba is renowned for its ability to mimic egg whites, and meringues are the most common use of egg whites, it makes sense that my journey to explore the ways of using this wonderful liquid has finally come to this: aquafaba meringues. I was delighted with this recipe — the resulting meringues are crisp, airy and sweet. They’re light as a feather, with a delicate outer shell dissolving on the tongue like cotton candy, giving way to a slightly chewy, gently caramelised inner layer.
These are simple meringues, with only a hint of vanilla for flavour, but I would love to make them again with some instant coffee powder, or freeze-dried berry powder whipped into the mixture. They’re a bit more fragile than meringues made with egg whites, but other than that they really do taste like the real thing — in fact, to me these now are the real thing. Why wouldn’t they be?
