What did I do wrong? (meringues)

[TinselianAstra]

I whisked two egg whites until they were stiff, added my sugar, and now it's all gone soft and no amount of whisking seems to put the air back in. What happened?

I;ve blobbed half of the mixture onto a baking tray and it's in the oven anyway, so I may have some flat airless meringues.

There may have been some grease in your bowl, or perhaps you overwhipped them? Did you fold in the sugar?

Nigella told me to whisk in half the sugar then fold in the other half. It's possible to overwhip? Damn.

over whisked

Overwhipping! I'm crap at meringue, I always overwhip. But they're usually edible, they just don't look pretty. Could always do Eton Mess.

Thanks guys!

They were just for eating anyway, not for presentation, so it's all okay. Tasty is more important than pretty.

Ooh,. I like the sound of 'presentation meringues'

Actually presentation meringues sound bad, as if they would be just for looking at, not allowed to touch, definitely not allowed to eat.

But maybe I should make some fake ones for display, and then sneakily swap them for the rubbish ones when it comes to eating time.