With all of the celebrating going on this weekend, we thought we would share one of our favorite summer deserts: Pavlova! Fresh, light, full of texture and flavor combinations this wonderful confection is the perfect finale to any warm weather festivity, and it's Red White and Blue to boot!
Like with all meringue, the success of the final output depends on the use of room temperature eggs and very clean, grease free utensils.
The pavlova have a tendency to crack as they cool, but this gives them a great texture, and you can always cover anything you don't like with additional whipped cream!
Although not traditional to the recipe, we like to add a little lemon curd to the mini pavlovas before adding the cream and fruit. It just adds one more layer of texture, and that wonderful tart flavor is a great contrast to the sweet crumbly marshmallow of the meringue.
Happy 4th of July!
Red White and Blue Mini Pavlova adapted from this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 4 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1 cup of Castor sugar, also known as "Berry sugar"
- 1 tsp of white vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp of cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cups of whipping cream
- Fresh fruit strawberries (raspberries would work too) and blueberries
- 1 Small jar lemon curd
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 275F and place the rack in middle of the oven. Line a baking tray with foil, parchment paper or silicone baking sheet. Set aside.
- In a clean, medium-sized metal bowl, beat the egg whites with a clean electric mixer on medium speed. Beat until the whites form soft peaks.
- Gently sprinkle the sugar into the egg whites, one teaspoon at a time. Don't just lump the sugar in the bowl and never stop beating the eggs until you finish the sugar. Your egg whites should now be glossy stiff peaks.
- Sprinkle the cornstarch and vinegar on the meringue and fold in gently with a plastic spatula. Add the vanilla and gently fold the mixture again.
- Now gently spread the meringue in 3" circles on the lined baking sheet. Make sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher then the center so you have a very slight well in the middle. The edges should be about 1.5 inches tall.
- Bake the meringue for about 50 to 60 minutes or until it goes a very pale, pinkish egg shell color. If it is changing color to quickly or unevenly, turn the oven down 25 degrees and rotate rack. They should be crispy on the outside with a slightly chewy marshmallow center.
- Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar to let the meringue cool completely. As the meringue cools, it will crack slightly.
- Just before serving, take the meringues out of the oven and remove them gently from the baking sheet and place on a plates.
- Whip the cream with the vanilla extract until it forms peaks. Prepare the fruit by washing and slicing.
- Gently spread a small amount of lemon curd in the well of the pavlova. Fill the rest of the indentation with whipped cream and arrange the fruit on top.