What does meringue mean?
Word: Meringue
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Meringue means a light, crisp sweet made by whisking egg whites with sugar and baking the mixture slowly.
Word origin: From French meringue, taken into English in the early 1700s; where the French word came from is not known.
How do you spell meringue?
Syllables: me - ringue
Tricky part: The end is said like 'rang', yet no a appears there: the vowel is i, and a silent ue sits after the g.
Watch out for: meringe, meringeu, merang
Memory tip: Meringue melts on your tongue, and the two words finish alike, with a g and a silent ue.
Meringue in a sentence
Example 1: Mum piped small swirls of meringue onto the tray and left them in a cool oven.
Example 2: A spoonful of lemon meringue pie was all that remained on the plate.
Example 3: Grandmother's meringue nests disappeared before the tea had been poured.
Fun Fact
The pavlova, a dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, has a crisp meringue shell and a soft, marshmallow-like centre.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
m___ingue
a) ar
b) er
c) air
d) err
Show answer
b) er. The opening beat is a quick 'muh', written with e and one r.
Spell Probe
Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its meaning:
Nandini dusted the meringue with icing sugar and added a ring of sliced strawberies before carrying it to the table.
a) a soft red summer fruit with tiny seeds on its skin
b) a crisp sweet of baked egg white
c) very fine sugar used for decorating cakes
d) a piece of furniture with a flat top
Show answer
a) a soft red summer fruit with tiny seeds on its skin. Strawberries has lost an r: it needs the double r of berry.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
gnueimre 12345678
a) 64785132
b) 64752138
c) 62457138
d) 56742138
Show answer
b) 64752138. The sweet opens m, e, r, which sit at 6, 4 and 7, and only one option then finishes the word.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with its meaning:
1. meringue 2. marinade 3. mousse a. a crisp white topping that turns golden in the oven b. a chilled, creamy pudding full of tiny air bubbles c. a spiced sauce in which food soaks before cooking
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
Show answer
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b. The oven gives away the topping, the soaking gives away the sauce, and the chilled bubbles belong to the pudding.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why does a baker keep every trace of yolk out of the bowl when making meringue?
a) a little yolk turns the whites too sour
b) a little yolk doubles the baking time
c) a little yolk stops the whites from stiffening
d) a little yolk keeps the sugar gritty
Show answer
c) a little yolk stops the whites from stiffening
2. A plate of meringues is left out in a damp kitchen. What is likely to happen to them?
a) they become sour and fizzy
b) they go dark and bitter
c) they grow hard and salty
d) they turn soft and sticky
Show answer
d) they turn soft and sticky
