Pavlova
This week we made an item that we aren’t exactly sure why it made it on our list. Chances are we saw it in our Bake From Scratch cook book and decided it would be fun to make a meringue based dessert. We had seen several on The Great British Baking Show but they weren’t specifically pavlovas.
A pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. It has a crisp outside and a soft, light inside and is usually served with whipped cream and berries. The dessert originated in Australia. The meringue is usually shaped into a cake with a recessed center. Most of the pictures were pretty rustic looking in that they were just scooped into a pile and then hollowed out a little in the center to hold the filling ingredients. We considered making them this way but our recipe was for individual ones and we thought it would be pretty to pipe the meringue instead. We opted for the individual ones because we knew it would need eaten fairly quickly after it was assembled and we just didn’t have enough people to eat the whole recipe in one sitting.
We did not make any substitutions for this recipe!! The sugar is necessary for the proper texture (crunchy & chewy) on the meringue and, even with real sugar, each pavlova shell was only 33 calories! We could live with that.
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (0.5 gram) cream of tartar
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 4 cups assorted berries (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries)
- Garnish: fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar with a mixer at medium speed until foamy. Increase mixer speed to high, and beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon (12 grams) at a time, until glossy and stiff peaks form.
- Drop meringue into eight mounds on prepared pans. Using the back of a spoon, shape meringue into nests, roughly 1 inch high and 4 inches wide.
- Bake for 1 hour. Turn oven off, and leave meringues in oven with door closed overnight to dry out.
- Fill shells with assorted berries. Garnish with mint, if desired. Serve immediately.
Our Experience
This bake went so fast, we were done before we realized we hadn’t even taken any “during” photos. I found one online just to help give a visual…that we didn’t photograph!
We started by drawing 4″ circles on parchment paper and then turned the paper upside down so as not to get any pencil graphite on the food.
It was difficult to see the circles on our doubled up parchment, but overall, it worked pretty well.
The whipping of the eggs and adding the sugar went so quickly, we didn’t get any photos. Ours looked like the photo below but without the fancy red KitchenAid!! We were so worried that we would over whip it because the recipe specifically states not to do so! We stopped to check it once and the tip bent over so we went about a minute longer and the bending didn’t occur.
It’s a good thing we don’t have any photos of our piping adventures. 🙂 It was a mess and the first few weren’t all that pretty. Aubrey tried her hand at it for a few and they didn’t meet her personal standards so she passed it back to me to finish up. The only good thing about having meringue all over your hands is getting to lick it all off. It was delicious. Now, I know the eggs were still raw but I eat raw yolks all the time, so what’s the difference?
Once the pavlovas were on the baking pan, they went straight into the oven to bake for an hour. Once they were finished, we turned off the oven and left them there overnight. If meringue cools too quickly, it cracks and we wouldn’t want that!!
That was it…other than assembling them, they were done. We waited until the afternoon to have them as an afternoon snack.
When assembling them, we had the option of fat-free whipped cream and/or berries. (Kip ate his with ice cream as usual.)
What we liked.
How could we dislike a dessert that was made so quickly and easily? They were crunchy on the outside and a bit chewy on the inside (a full sized one would probably have been chewier). They were sweet but not too sweet with the berries. Even if they were a bit sloppy, they were quite pretty. I loved that they took some time to eat and I felt like I was getting a big dessert while I was eating very little as far as calories went. I tried mine with whipped cream and berries as well as pudding with berries. I preferred the whipped cream with berries.
Overall, they received a 5 out of 5. Some liked them better than others but nobody disliked them. Logan LOVED them!! She’s our pickiest eater so that was a win for me. I am pretty sure we will make them again.
What we would change.
If I knew we would be able to serve it and have enough people to eat it, I would make a full size one. I would also do away with piping them on the parchment paper. I would use the dollop method and just go with it. I think the rustic look worked better than our piped edges. I might try to add some flavor to the meringue or some other toppings. There are a lot of recipes online that we may have to try.
What we learned.
Of course, we learned how to make a meringue. Our previous foray into whipping egg whites didn’t go as well as this one did so now we are a bit more confident for our future endeavors.
Until next week, Happy Baking!