On Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 11:14:24 PM UTC-4, Garrett Wollman wrote in alt.usage.english:
> In article >,
> Peter T. Daniels > wrote:
> >That sounds like it refers to a particular thing (a dessert?), but
> >"meringue" is a substance, made as Cat says.
> It is also a dessert made from baking said substance (as itself),
> sometimes with a swirl of some flavoring through it, often quite large
> in diameter. Chocolate and fruit-flavored ones are common.
>
> There are three different broadly recognized types of kinds of
> meringue (the substance): French, Swiss, and Italian. The baked
> sweets are made from a French meringue, which is uncooked (since
> they're going to be baked until dry anyway). A Swiss meringue is made
> in a double boiler, with the egg white and sugar whisked together
> until the egg is cooked, and then removed from heat and whipped to
> incorporate air. An Italian meringue is made by whipping the egg
> white first, until it forms stiff peaks, and then whipping in a very
> hot sugar syrup, which cooks the egg. Buttercream frostings are made
> from either Swiss or Italian meringues, depending on the preference of
> the baker.
>
> -GAWollman
>
> --
> Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can,
> | act to remove constraint from the future. This is
> Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
> my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015)

I wonder how a meringue would help a Grand Marnier or Kahlúa mixed drink, like a B52 or a Mudslide.