Sugar Syrup in Meringue

[Joyce]

I have seen a few questions come up in various threads, and thought the following might help: at 238 degrees, when a small amount of sugar syrup is dropped into ice water, it will form a soft roundish "blob" in the water, that can be easily pressed out. The stage immediately prior to this is when the sugar forms a long thread when dropped. The stage following this is when the sugar forms a firm ball when dropped. I have had very good luck with this method, using a small dish of ice water set by the range.

[breadmama]

Thanks, Joyce! This makes me wonder about another thing. I made the Chocolate Mousse recipe, and got the sugar too hot before I put it in the egg white mixture. I had whipped the egg whites to soft peaks before I poured in the syrup, and the meringue seemed to fall apart/curdle. I wondered if it was the temp being too high, or if I was supposed to take the egg whites to the soft peaks after adding the hot syrup. Does anyone know? I definitely will make that recipe again, but I want to get the meringue right. It was a hit with our family.