I have a friend who is an expert at pavlova. Named after the Russian ballet dancer, it’s a dessert featuring egg whites and sugar whipped to stiff peaks then baked, so the outside is crisp and the inside is marshmallow-y. Unlike a floating island, which is surrounded by a pool of sweet cream, pavlova is usually topped with whipped cream and fresh, tart berries to contrast the sweetness of the meringue. Sometimes there’s some kind of fruit coulis involved, but that’s more often also for floating islands.
I’d never made pavlova, believe it or not, but this friend said it was the easiest thing, and I much prefer ballet dancers to renegade pieces of rock. Whipping eggs whites is intimidating either way, since I’ve had a lot of whites deflate on me. You get all them all puffed up and feeling good about themselves and then they realize what a sorry state they’re truly in and slowly collapse. It’s cruel to play mind games with, and wreck, meringue.
But I ended up with leftover two egg whites once, and I figured it would be better to take my chances on meringue than throw out two perfectly good egg whites. Besides, the vinegar is supposed to help make it stable, and I happened to have some cane sugar in which I’d left a scraped out vanilla pod for the past two months. So I wouldn’t even have to bother with adding vanilla extract.
This recipe is adapted from the New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser. I whipped the whites by hand with a whisk because I think that’s supposed to make them more stable. It didn’t hurt, and I got a work-out. Win-win? If you don’t feel like whipping the coconut cream by hand too, that’s fine (in fact, if you do the whole thing with a hand or stand mixer, how am I going to know? And I wouldn’t even be upset anyway). I used an immersion blender for that part myself.
Ingredients
2 egg whites
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (unless you leave your leftover vanilla beans in your sugar, in which case skip the extract)
1/2 tsp tapioca starch (or cornstarch if you can handle it. I can’t)
2 cans full-fat coconut milk, cream scraped from top (not shaken), or 1/2 cup heavy cream (both are optional, but very good ideas)
1 cup berries or nothing at all. I like vanilla. It’s a fruit too, you know. Seeds.
Directions
Preheat oven to 250F. Line 8″ pan (preferably springform) with parchment paper on the bottom and butter both the paper and the paperless sides of the pan. Dust with tapioca starch (or cornstarch) and remove excess.
Best whites until frothy in medium bowl. Gradually beat in sugar and salt. Then vinegar and vanilla (if not using vanilla sugar) and beat until whites are stiff.
Sift tapioca starch over meringue and fold in gently (recipe specifies “rubber spatula” for this task). Scrape into prepared pan and smooth top. Now you’re supposed to make some funny indentations “Make a slight indentation extending from the centre to 1″ from the sides of the pan. Build up sides of meringue slightly.” I think you could do whatever kind of artistic shape you want since the indentations will hold during baking. If you feel like making a circus tent, go for it.
Bake 30 minutes. Then turn off heat (don’t open oven door) and let cool in oven 1 hour. Taking it out or opening the door will cause the meringue to (probably) fall. After 1 hour remove from oven, cover (I went with a light kitchen towel to let air continue to pass, instead of plastic wrap). Cool completely.
Top with fruit in whatever decorative manner you want (I skipped the fruit). Whip coconut cream or heavy cream to soft peaks and add 1 tbsp sugar. Beat until stiff. Coconut cream doesn’t get that stiff I don’t think. DO NOT put the cans in the fridge to separate the cream from the milk or they’ll solidify and you’ll have to make one giant floating island because the only way to soften the cream is to melt it.
Spoon cream over fruit or meringue, or crack off pieces of meringue and then eat a spoonful of whipped cream straight from the bowl. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Be glad you’re not sharing. Stop before eating 1/2 cup of sugar in total meringue plus way too much cream. Consider sharing next time.
So, so good. And it kept for 5 days wrapped in that kitchen towel wrapped in plastic wrap.
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