Servings: 4-5
Pavlova Ingredients
2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cream of tarter
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
Steps to make Pavlova
Place rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 275°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stir the cornstarch into the sugar in a small bowl.
In a bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, fitted with whisk attachment, whip egg whites, cream of tartar and salt, starting on low, increasing incrementally to medium speed until soft peaks/trails start to become visible, and the egg white bubbles are very small and uniform, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
Increase speed to medium-high, slowly and gradually sprinkling in the sugar-cornstarch mixture.
A few minutes after these dry ingredients are added, slowly pour in the vanilla. Increase speed a bit and whip until meringue is glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 4 to 5 minutes.
Pipe or spoon the meringue into 4-5 round mounds that are 3 inches wide on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon liner. With the back of a spoon, create an indentation in the middle of the mound for holding the filling once meringue is baked
I never create the indentation, I lightly stir the top of the meringue until it gets a little tail on top like a Hershey’s kiss
Place baking sheet in the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 250°F. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the meringues are crisp, dry to the touch on the outside, and white -- not tan-colored or cracked.
The interiors should have a marshmallow-like consistency. Check on meringues at least once during the baking time.
If they appear to be taking on color or cracking, reduce temperature 25 degrees, and turn pan around.
Gently lift from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Will keep in a tightly sealed container at room temperature, or individually wrapped, for up to a week if your house is not humid.
Serve topped with your favorite filling - lemon curd, raspberry or blueberry sauce, and freshly whipped cream.
I make my own whipped cream with less sugar and most often pair with fresh fruit.
Whipped Cream Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1-2 teaspoons sugar
Steps to make Whipped Cream
Beat whipping cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. If it starts to get solid you are starting to make butter! Add more cream to fix it
The year after I graduated from university, I was trying to figure out where I wanted to live and what I wanted to do when I grew up. I sent out loads of applications which largely went ignored and felt a bit at loose ends. When I was studying abroad the year before, I’d met Meghan at the British Museum and she had told me about this program called BUNAC that she had signed up for to work abroad. Wanting to travel and not having loads of money to just travel, I ended up signing up for a 6 month work visa in Britain. I figured I would spend that time focusing on where I wanted to live and what work I wanted to pursue. I lived and worked in London, Woodstock, Grasmere, and Lochoilhead. Most of those jobs I heard about or took over from friends there on the same program. I was introduced to Pavlova at the Glenthorne Quaker Guest House in Grasmere. I met Monica in London when we were looking for work at the BUNAC office and took over her job in Grasmere and then she ended up coming back for a period of time so we worked together. Now we both live in Minneapolis.
The funniest part about finding these pictures was that I would take a roll of film and mail it in to get developed and have no idea how the pictures turned out until it came back in the mail. So while this picture wasn’t great, it was likely the best one of some of us working at Glenthorne. We also didn’t take loads of photos because we were not paying for duplicate pictures or wasting film. Ahhhh, the olden days.
I have many fond memories of Glenthorne and have been back twice since I worked there. The first time with my mom to celebrate her retirement, and the second time this last summer with my friend Bethany.
It’s a modest, peaceful place in one of the loveliest areas of England. You sit with other guests at dinner and all the food is served family style. When Pavlova would be served they would make it the size of a dinner plate, then put a layer of unsweetened whipped cream, then fresh fruit. Typically there would be one for each table and a couple for the staff, but apparently I was very vocal in my love of pavlova because Carol (one of the cooks) would make one just for me. Legend has it the Pavlova was named after the ballerina Anna Pavlova when she toured Australia and New Zealand. It’s similar to meringue on the outside, but has a marshmallow like center. The recipe above is actually a half recipe because I prefer the smaller serving size.
Kids love this dessert because if they don’t add the fruit and whipped cream it’s basically sugar in solid form. It’s simple to make and not too difficult to screw up unless it’s super humid out or someone is not paying attention (It’s totally me if you were wondering).
I made it this week to bring lunch to Julie K on Saturday and it was giving me fits. I ended up making the half recipe 3 times. I was pairing it with Tamale Pie and since the Tamale Pie made a lot, I figured I could split it into two meals. One for Susan and Oz when they got back from spring break vacation and one for Julie. I was so excited to wake up Friday morning and make pavlova and all but the cornbread top of the tamale pie. This recipe does well when it’s baked for an hour, the stove is turned off, and it sits for at least another hour so I left it in the oven when I went to meet friends for lunch. Sadly, I forgot about it so it had the benefit of sitting in a 400 degree oven pre-heating later that day. I assumed the burnt sugar smell was from something else I’d baked that was burning off due to the higher heat.
Saturday morning I made it again. I thought I’d try powdered sugar rather than the granulated sugar usually used. I’d heard about that option on Splendid Table but didn’t actually go read that recipe, I just added it at the same time as I would have added the granulated sugar. It was then I realized my mistake. Searching for that recipe confirmed it was folded into the stiff egg whites rather than added during beating. I put it on the pan, but made another batch correctly after that curious to see what the difference would be when they came out of the oven. The powdered sugar batch was soft, brown, and had odd bubbles (or boils?) on it. The granulated sugar batch was fine. The leftover egg yolks made a really custardy french toast this morning, and will make a lemon curd tonight. Even the simplist of recipes can go wrong if I am not paying attention, but thankfully in the end there were some edible pavlova.