Pavlova-When Ballet meets the Palate

  A Pavlova is a tasty baked meringue with cream and fruit on top. It is a very unassuming dessert with a contentious past. Both Australia and New Zealand have been arguing for about 90 years over the origin of the dish. Most agree that the dish was created for Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova on her tour of Australia and New Zealand in  1926. The difference of opinion surrounds who was the first to make and publish the recipe. I can't comment on the merits of each case, but I will say it seems to be a war with only winners as both sides bring out the big guns to make design and publish ever more tasty and elaborate versions. See, only winners on both sides.
  We made a Pavlova the other day. In the course of making a Boston Cream Pie, there were a number of egg whites left over from the pastry Cream.  I looked at the eggs and thought why not try a Pavlova to see how it turns out. Boy an I glad that I did.

Meringue Recipe
6 Room Temperature egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup sugar

  I put the  eggs in a medium sized bowl and with a hand mixer beat the eggs and tartar sauce until frothy. Then I started adding the sugar as I continued to beat the eggs. Once all the sugar was added beat until you get a stiff peak. For those who are novices like me, this is when the mixture stays in the beaters and when you pull them out of the bowl and turn the  mixer over, the meringue forms a peak on the end that doesn't fall over but stands up on its own.
   I have a piece of parchment paper on which I marked an 11"(28 cm) circle. Place the parchment paper on a cookie sheet with the marked side down, you should still be able to see the mark through the paper. Spread the meringue inside the circle and try to keep it all the same thickness. This is a template to help make a better circle. If you don't have a plate that size to hold it when done, you can make a smaller circle.
  Place in an oven preheated to 250F and bake for 50-60 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave it inside for another hour. The outside will be crunchy and the inside will be a bit gooey. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. It is very delicate and the outside will crack, don't worry, the cream topping will hide it and on first bite no one will notice a few chips or cracks.
  I read in many recipes that the least bit of yolk in the white will cause it to fail. I did have a bit of yolk in the egg white and had no trouble getting the meringue to whip. I would recommend trying to keep the whites as clean as possible.

 

Cream Topping
1 cup whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp Sugar

1 package Cream Cheese
1 tsp Vanilla
2Tbsp Sugar

In a bowl whip the whipping cream and vanilla slowly add sugar and whip until you get a soft peak.
In another bowl break up the cream cheese and add the vanilla and sugar and beat with a mixer until softened.
Using a spatula gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese to roughly combine.
Spread this mixture on the cooled meringue. This is the time to glue any broken bits back in place, the cream will hide and hold them.

Top with fresh fruit of your choice, the traditional are strawberries and Kiwi fruit, but I think almost any fruit would work.

  Store in the refrigerator.

 

 It wasn't nearly as difficult as I imagined and the end result was a tasty dessert that may have seemed to taste better as it was consumed among a group of friends around a campfire. We put the Pavlova in a cake keeper and put that in a cooler bag to take to the campground and it travelled fine.