- Pavlova is a dessert made of egg whites that have been whipped up and baked into a cake-like form. As it bakes, the outside forms a crispy crust. It has a soft, pillowy, somewhat sticky center, similar to the sticky interior of a marshmallow. The dessert is topped with whipped cream and fruit. The dessert is popular in Australia and New Zealand, where it is usually topped with slices of kiwi fruit.
- A standard pavlova cake recipe includes 4 large egg whites, 1 cup of superfine sugar, 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, and 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch. Place an oven rack in the center of your oven, and preheat your oven to 250 degrees F. Draw a 7-inch circle on a sheet of parchment paper. Draw the circle darkly enough so you can see the circle through the other side of the paper and use it as a template for the cake. Place the paper, circle-side down, on a baking sheet. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then add the sugar to the egg whites, one tablespoon at a time as you continue beating them to very stiff peaks. Sprinkle the cornstarch and vinegar over the egg whites and gently fold them in with a rubber spatula. Gently scoop the egg whites into the circle template on your parchment paper, gently spreading it out with your spatula all the way to the circle's edges. Shape the egg whites so the cake's edges are slightly raised and there's a slight dip in the center that you will fill with whipped cream and fruit. Bake the cake for until the outside is dry and a pale, creamy color, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. After the cake has reached the correct color, turn off the oven, leave the door open slightly, and cool the meringue completely in the oven. The outside will crack slightly. Store the finished meringue in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, or finish the dessert.
- For the filling, you'll need 1 cup of whipping cream, 1 1/2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and a peeled kiwi, sliced into rounds. Whip the cream to soft peaks, then sprinkle and fold in the sugar and vanilla extract. Mound the whipped cream into the meringue cake, and place the fruit on top of the whipped cream. Once you've topped the meringue with the whipped cream, slice it in wedges as you would any other kind of cake and serve the dessert within a few hours before the moisture from the cream and fruit ruins the meringue's texture.
- The chef who created the dessert pavlova in the 1920s named it after a famous Russian ballet dancer, Ánna Pávlova, sometime during or after she toured through Australia and New Zealand. More specifically, a biographer of Ánna Pávlova, Keith Money, reported that a chef working at a hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, invented the dessert when Pavlova was visiting in 1926.
- The precise history of pavlova is a mystery. There is no contention as to who pavlova is named after and around when it was created, but fans of pavlova from Australia and New Zealand fight over which country pavlova originated in. However, food historians do know that the earliest copy of the recipe in existence was found in a New Zealand magazine published in 1929.
Comments
grimsleygl said
on 6/28/2009 These things are lovely and so beautiful! Great recipe, but a photo would be oh, so nice. 5*'s though as it's a super recipe.