Following the retirement party, I ended up having lots and lots of egg whites that needed to be used. Since I've enjoyed making macarons, I chose to make some of those and doubled the recipe. Surprisingly, that didn't even make a dent in all the egg whites I had left. I used a new recipe from a Bridgerton cook book. The macarons did not turn out. To be honest I was quite upset about it as I had not had a flop like that in a while. Not sure where I went wrong; the almond flour was a different brand than normal, and I split the egg whites without measuring, so that might have had something to do with it. But I'm moving on from it, and we dont have to talk about it. Honestly, that's not what I wanted to write about!
Since I STILL had so many egg whites left. I opened up my trusty Mary Berry cookbook! There I found a meringue recipe and a pavlova recipe. I've always wanted to make a pavlova. I took a quick scan of the ingredients, always check to make sure you have everything and have read the instructions because you never want to start something and then realize there's cooling/freezer time or lots of in and out of the fridge, which I have done before. Fortunately, there was none of that in this recipe.
I set to making my first pavlova. There's really not much to it, and like I said, I've always wanted to make one, so I was quite excited! I measured out my egg whites, and got to whisking with my stand mixer. Once the egg whites reached a stiff cloud like consistency, I started slowly adding the sugar. You definitely can't add all of it at once. I don't know what happens. I think it decreases the fluffiness and air of the egg whites, so I just add a little bit at a time while I keep whipping. The recipe then calls for a blend of cornflour and white wine vinegar, which I was shocked by. I don't see white wine vinegar often in baking. The cornflour and white wine vinegar are supposed to be whisked together and then whisked into the meringue mixture.
This being my first time making a pavlova, I did not realize that it expands. I drew my circle on parchment paper and flipped the paper over onto the sheet pan, obviously not going to put the food on the drawn side. For those that don't know, the pavlova should be round with an inset middle because you top it with whipped cream and fruit. This recipe called for strawberries; I only had blueberries, but you can use whatever fruit seems delicious to you. Anyways, I drew the circle and plopped the meringue mix in the middle of that circle. I used my food processor as the size for the circle; the recipe called for a 23 cm (9in) circle. A 9 inch round seemed quite small, and a 9 inch diameter seemed far too big, which is where the food processor came in. If I had to do it again, I would do slightly smaller than the food processor now that I know the pavlova expands on baking.
Once I plopped the meringue, I shaped it to look a bit more presentable and to fill the circle. The recipe says to build up the sides so they are higher than the middle. I did this and indented the middle since I new I would be adding the whipped cream and fruit there. Then I placed it in the oven, which had been pre-heated, but then the recipe states to immediately reduce the temperature by 10 degrees. The meringue is to be baked for approximately 1 hour until it is firm to touch and a "pale beige color." Once this happens, the recipe states to turn the oven off and allow the pavlova to become quite cold but still in the oven.
Now, to that note, I have read a few pavlova recipes, and some of them state to keep the pavlova in the oven overnight. I can only assume this is to ensure it cools 100% in the oven and you don't need to think about it. If the oven door is kept closed the meringue will become more marshmallowy, which is a wonderful texture for this dessert. Now I left the pavlova in the oven to cool for about 2 hours, but after that I needed the oven! So I HAD to take it out. I don't think it affected the meringue too much, but it did deflate slightly, more than I was hoping honestly. It finished its cooling process on the counter.
Once dinner was finished, I topped the pavlova with whipped cream and blueberries, and it was devoured. Normally, I would make fresh whipped cream, but I was too excited to try this and didn't have enough heavy cream. We had some friends over to enjoy it with us. We could have finished it all, but we chose to leave a little leftover. I cannot wait to make this dessert again, but I really think it's more of a summer dessert, especially since you can be so versatile with your fruit toppings. This dessert will become a staple at our house! It is light and airy with just the right amount of sweetness in the meringue and versatile!
The recipe is from Mary Berry's Baking Bible page 356.
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