Pavlova: A meringue-based “cake” with a soft marshmallow-like center and a crisp crust.
How good does that sound?
Throw in a story about a famed Russian ballerina and a century-long petty diplomatic dispute between Australia and New Zealand about the origin of the recipe and you have an interesting recipe, indeed! I don’t know about you, but I especially enjoy making a recipe that has an interesting back story.(Caesar Cardini’s Caesar Salad, Catherine de Medicis’ Macarons and Pimento Cheese Sandwiches come to mind.)
Must be that high school history teacher “phase” in my life.
Some years ago, 2016 actually, Blue Cayenne featured a Pavlova recipe. Here is the link to that previous post Pavlova complete with a photo of the recipe’s famous namesake ballerina decked out in a quirky swan costume. (Below,too, you will find a photo of that delicious Lemon Curd and Berry”Pav” that we baked (and enjoyed) back in 2016.)
The other day, while searching the King Arthur Baking site, we found KAB’s simplified take on the pavlova batter and gave in to serious Pavlova cravings So, here we are with another Pavlova recipe and a simpler option for the meringue.
Here is still another iteration of this pavlova recipe, this time with mascarpone whipped cream (wow!), lemon curd and berries. I loved the color scheme of this one!
Here is King Arthur Baking’s simple Pavlova recipe as we prepared it in our kitchen. You can find the original recipe here.
Pavlova
Ingredients
- Meringue
- 3 large egg whites (room temperature)
- Pinch of table salt
- 1/2 t. cream of tartar
- 1 C. superfine sugar
- 1 T. cornstarch
- Topping
- 1 1/2 C. heavy cream or whipping cream
- 1/4 C. powdered sugar
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- Fruit
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with parchment. Trace an 8 or 9 inch circle on the parchment.
- Step 2 Whisk egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
- Step 3 If you are using granulated sugar, measure it and put it. into a blender. Blend until the sugar is very fine. Combine the sugar with the corn starch.
- Step 4 Add the sugar mixture to the whisked egg whites
- Step 5 add the fine sugar gradually and add it while the mixer is running. Beat this mixture for about one minute. You want the mixture to become glossy.
- Step 6 Using a spatula, shape the meringue into a round shape on the parchment, using the circle guide that you have already drawn on the parchment.
- Step 7 Bake for 1 hour in the 200 degree F. oven. Turn off the oven after one hour but leave the door closed and let the pavlova meringue rest in the oven. You can let it stay in the turned-off oven overnight if you plan to assemble your pavlova the next day.
- Step 8 About an hour before serving, top the pavlova generously with whipped cream that has been whipped with powdered sugar until it has thickened. Add vanilla to the whip. Top with sliced fruit. Berries and kiwi are beautiful as a topping.
