About a year ago a friend of mine from New Zealand posted a picture of a dessert she made... Pavlova. I had actually never even heard of it, but turns out it's rather popular in New Zealand and Australia. It looked delicious but I just now got around to trying to make one. My first attempt didn't go so well, but I was pretty sure I knew what I did wrong. My second attempt was an absolute success!!
Ingredients:
- 4 egg whites
- 3 tbs unsweetened coco powder
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1 - 1 1/4c sugar
- 1 tbs red wine vinegar
Topping:
- Whipped cream (1c cream, 1 tbs vanilla, 2 tbs sugar)
- Berries of your choice (obviously I picked raspberries)
Preheat oven to 300. Mix coco powder and sugar together. In a very clean bowl whip egg whites until soft whip cream-like peaks form. Gradually add sugar and coco mixture, about 1/4c or less at time, just until incorporated. Add corn starch and vinegar to batter and fold or gently whip to incorporate.
Line a baking sheet with some parchment paper and plop the batter down in the center. Using a spatula, smooth the mixture into a round disk aprox 9 inches around, 2 inches tall. This is not an exact science so just make it roundish and even.
Pop into the preheated oven for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes turn off the oven and crack the door open. Let the pavlova cool naturally. The meringue part of this dessert is best served room temp or cold.
When you are ready to serve just whip up some cream with sugar and vanilla, slap it on top of the pavlova and top it with delicious fresh fruit. I found a bit of chocolate I had in the house, pretty sure it was a Hershey's miniature, and grated that over the top. Slice with a sharp knife and serve.
Tips and ideas:
- This is practically a no fail dessert, yet I managed to mess it up the first time. I had never made a meringue before and I was pretty sure my mistake was over-beating the egg whites, of which I initially used 6 instead of 4. I had used an electric hand mixer and went to town on those egg-whites!!! What I ended up with was a meringue that was too thick, too tall, had a super sturdy outer shell:
Not the light and airy dessert I was going for. More like a kindergarden paper mâché project! This time I used a good ol' whisk, and that was probably a much better idea.
- I wasn't sure what my meringue should look like at the point I should add sugar. Whenever I need a bit of visual help I usually turn to YouTube! I found a helpful little video demonstrating how to make a pavlova. That's always a huge help!
- Traditional pavlova isn't chocolate!!! *gasp* Insane, I know. So if you would like to make a traditional pavlova just leave out the coco powder, add a tbs or two of vanilla to the egg whites (after they've peaked), and use malt vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. Traditional topping is usually sliced kiwi and strawberries.
- This would be the perfect dessert to make the night before a party. Bake it and just leave it in the oven to cool overnight. No need to refrigerate it. When it's time to head out to your party, or have people over, just whip up the cream, top with berries, and wow everyone!
- This is a very light and airy desert. It's sweet, but just barely. In fact, I'm not a huge fan of sweets. Although I love to bake, I usually give away my scrumptious concoctions rather than eat them myself.....But THIS I could eat all day. In fact, I had a slice with my coffee this morning. Omm nom nom.
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