Did you know ballerinas smell like vanilla? Just like this dessert, light and tender-sweet, named after the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova – Pavlova (remember the stress on the penultimate syllable). For Christmas, it is customary to cook it in the shape of a wreath and to decorate it to your taste with whatever comes to your mind and will help create the desired contrast in taste: the meringue and cream are sweet, which means we need something with a slight sourness, for example, berries. Do not forget, you should serve Pavlova immediately after you have laid out the cream and decorated it, although I think you will not be able to wait long anyway 😉
Did you know ballerinas smell like vanilla? Just like this dessert, light and tender-sweet, named after the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova – Pavlova (remember the stress on the penultimate syllable). For Christmas, it is customary to cook it in the shape of a wreath and to decorate it to your taste with whatever comes to your mind and will help create the desired contrast in taste: the meringue and cream are sweet, which means we need something with a slight sourness, for example, berries. Do not forget, you should serve Pavlova immediately after you have laid out the cream and decorated it, although I think you will not be able to wait long anyway 😉- Prep time: 25 minutes + time for chilling
- Cook time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Serves: 8
- Difficulty: medium
- Course: dessert
- Cookware: stand mixer, egg separator, silicone spatula
- Cuisine: Australian / New Zealand
Ingredients
For the meringue:
- 6 egg whites, room temperature
- 350 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp corn starch
For the cream:
- ½ litre double cream
- 50 g icing sugar
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste⠀
For the decorations:
- 125 g strawberries
- 125 g blueberries
- 125 g raspberries
- leaves from 3 sprigs of mint
- icing sugar
Cooking method
Step 1⠀
Heat the oven to 140˚C. Line a baking tray with baking parchment, draw a large circle 25-30cm diameter on it (depending on the size of the oven). Draw another smaller one circle inside this one, so that you make a ring.
Step 2
Whisk the whites until soft peaks are formed. Gradually add the icing sugar, whisking until firm peaks, until the whites are stiff and glossy. Add vinegar and starch, and stir in whites gently with a silicone spatula.
Step 3
Spoon the egg whites onto the drawn ring. Make a shallow trench in the meringue for the cream and fruit to sit in.
Step 4
Reducing the temperature to 100˚C, and bake the meringue for 2 hours 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven, open the door and leave the meringue in the oven until it cools completely (it is best to leave it overnight).
Step 5
Cook the cream. Add icing sugar to the double cream. Beat the mass until creamy. Add vanilla and stir gently. Put the cream into the trench in the meringue. Decorate with berries, mint leaves, and dust with icing sugar.
My tips and tricks:
Placing the meringue on parchment is a real creative challenge. In order for you to succeed, the parchment must be fixed during the laying out of the egg whites. To do this, brush the corners of a parchment sheet with egg whites mix and press them to a baking tray. Do not be afraid, after baking, the whites will easily come off.
Konstantin Vidoborenko’s wine recommendations:
In my opinion, the best pair for this dessert will be Brachetto d`Acqui. Red, sweet, slightly sparkling, floral wine from Piedmont. It is a light, fruity, round wine with a long aftertaste with dominant hints of raspberry and tea rose.
- 6 egg whites, room temperature
- 350 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp corn starch
- For the cream:
- ½ litre double cream
- 50 g icing sugar
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste
- For the decorations:
- 125 g strawberries
- 125 g blueberries
- 125 g raspberries
- leaves from 3 sprigs of mint
- icing sugar
- Heat the oven to 140˚C. Line a baking tray with baking parchment, draw a large circle 25-30cm diameter on it (depending on the size of the oven). Draw another smaller one circle inside this one, so that you make a ring.
- Whisk the whites until soft peaks are formed. Gradually add the icing sugar, whisking until firm peaks, until the whites are stiff and glossy. Add vinegar and starch, and stir in whites gently with a silicone spatula.
- Spoon the egg whites onto the drawn ring. Make a shallow trench in the meringue for the cream and fruit to sit in.
- Reducing the temperature to 100˚C, and bake the meringue for 2 hours 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven, open the door and leave the meringue in the oven until it cools completely (it is best to leave it overnight).
- Cook the cream. Add icing sugar to the double cream. Beat the mass until creamy. Add vanilla and stir gently. Put the cream into the trench in the meringue. Decorate with berries, mint leaves, and dust with icing sugar.