Lemon Thyme and Ginger

Aquafaba Meringue

Aquafaba meringue nests for vegan pavlova

A year ago I read an article on Food52 about an amazing food discovery – aquafaba. Aquafaba is bean water that comes from canned beans or home cooked beans. This is an ingredient that is unseemly and easy to ignore. I sometimes use it in hummus, but I mostly just pour it down the drain. Fortunately, some very clever and persistent people discovered that aquafaba has similar properties to egg whites and could be whipped into stiff peaks and make aquafaba meringue. This amazing discovery for an egg substitute has changed vegan baking, and general baking, forever.

Chickpea water is the surprise ingredient to make aquafaba meringue. a delicious vegan dessert.

Aquafaba from a can of chickpeas

At first, I struggled visualizing a white and fluffy aquafaba meringue, just the smell alone of chickpea brine, (especially canned) will deter anyone from considering there is merit in that broth. Vegan baking is a challenging concept for me.

I often wonder, how do you bake without eggs? It is the glue that holds everything together and gives structure and texture to baked desserts.  Could aquafaba really replace egg whites? I trust Food52 and their research, and I saw aquafaba was a trending discussion all over the web. My curiosity was sparked, and a year later, after relishing making and eating egg white meringue desserts-lemon meringue pie, dacquoise, pavlova, coconut chocolate meringue cookies, I finally put my mind to it and convinced myself it was time to make aquafaba meringues.

Aquafaba meringue is a delicious vegan dessert.

Soft peaks of aquafaba meringue

Aquafaba meringue is a delicious vegan dessert.

Stiff and glossy peaks of aquafaba meringue

To learn more about aquafaba check out these Facebook pages, Aquafaba Everything and Vegan Meringue Hit and Misses

Also The official aquafaba website.

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