Pavlovas, Whipped Cream & Fresh Fruit

Another BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS dessert!
We had our neighbour over for dinner tonight and because we were having such a heavy dinner (moose meat lasagna w greek salad & garlic bread), I thought this would be the perfect light&fluffy dessert to end the evening! I was right & it was loved - nothing but compliments and requests to have it again!!

Although, it was my first time attempting a pavlova they turned out fairly well. The actual Pavlova itself did brown a tiny bit which I think was a result of cooking them at 300 degrees (I think next time I will bake them at 200 degrees instead).

Pavlovas are rather simple to make - I'm sure I will say that about any dessert after the love/hate relationship I have had w french macarons over the past few months... although, I do believe I have finally mastered them (post, recipe & ranting to come)!!

Soooo... first things first, I whipped my egg whites & sugar! This has always been one of my favourite things to do when baking because to me, it's one of the easiest! I am always able to make those beautiful glossy peaks, whether they be used for a lemon meriangue pie, french macarons or in todays case, pavlovas! Once the stiff peaks were made, I quickly added the vinegar and vanilla.

This is another step I am undecided about: white vinegar versus cider vinegar? Which to use and why? If anyone has some insight, please share! I would love some opinions before I make these again! I ended up using the cider because I was following the recipe for these Summer Fruit Pavlovas and that's what it called for!

Now onto making the little pavlova nests. I did make a poor judgement call on my part when it came to adding the cream of tartar, I decided not to, when I should have. It helps stabilize your peaks, especially during cook time. I'm not sure why I decided not to, I just didn't. My nests did turn out fairly well though, thank goodness!

As stated earlier, I decided to bake the pavlovas at 300 degrees for 1 hour. I think this is too high if you want to have those perfect white pavlovas which I did not - they were still great but they were a dark beige, light brown sort of colour. Anywho, add your whipped cream and fresh fruit and you're done!

Pavlovas, Whipped Cream & Fresh Fruit

Yields 6 pavlovas with 4" diameter

Pavlovas

4 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cider vinegar

Whipped Cream

1 cup whipping cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Method

1. Whip egg whites until soft peaks form, add sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. In separate dish, mix 1 tbsp sugar and cornstarch then add and whip with the meringue. Then quickly add vinegar and vanilla, whip only until combined.
2. Line baking sheet w parchment paper and spoon meringue. Use back of spoon to create nest shape.
3. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour. When baking time completed, turn off oven and leave pavlovas inside to cool gradually to room temperature (roughly 1 hour).
4. Whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. DO NOT over whip!!! Once whipped, add icing sugar and vanilla and whip in quickly until combined.
5. Top pavlovas with whipping cream and the fresh fruit of your choice!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Farmhouse Table