My brother, sister-in-law, husband, and I watch GBBO (Great British Bake Off) remotely together every Saturday when new episodes hit Netflix. We live text snarky comments, votes of support, and smack talk. Last week, the contestants were tasked with making pavlova, something I’ve neither made nor tasted. It looked delicious - light, airy, and fruity - and a nice change from chocolate desserts.
If this pandemic isolation has taught me anything, it’s that it’s an adventure to make new things in the kitchen - and a great way to keep a toddler occupied. I cobbled together a recipe combining the two goddesses of the kitchen, Nigella and Ina, along with some personal tweaks for the capper on my second wedding anniversary meal.
Ingredients:
MERINGUE:
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 ¼ c. superfine sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
A few drops vanilla extract
TOPPING:
1 lb strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered
½ tsp high-quality vanilla extract
1 tsp high-quality balsamic vinegar
2 tsp superfine sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
A note on timing: The meringue will take over 3-4 hours between baking and cooling - allot your time accordingly. The strawberries shouldn't marinate for more than 2 hours.
To prepare meringue: heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and draw a circle on the paper using an 8- or 9- inch cake pan as a guide. Flip the parchment over so the pencil marking is facing down (this ensures that the pencil won't transfer to the meringue). In bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and salt. Begin beating at low speed, slowly increasing to high. Continue until satiny peaks begin to form; gradually beat in sugar a tablespoon at a time until meringue is stiff and shiny.
Sprinkle in cornstarch, white-wine vinegar [I used champagne vinegar because we're boogie like that], and vanilla, and fold in gently. Mound onto parchment within circle, and shape into a disk, flattening top and smoothing sides. Place in oven, and immediately reduce heat to 300 degrees. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off heat, and allow meringue to cool completely in oven [This will take 3+ hours if your oven is like mine].
To prepare topping: in a mixing bowl, combine strawberries, vanilla, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours. [Note: the picture on the left shows my trick for having strawberries last longer than a few days - you soak them in water with 3-4 TB of apple cider vinegar. Don't rinse them - they won't taste like vinegar. This kills any bacteria that might develop into fuzzies.]
To serve, carefully peel off parchment and place meringue on a platter or cake stand. Gently crack the top with the back of a soup spoon to make a shallow nest for the whipped cream and berries. Whip cream until it is thick enough to hold peaks, add 2 TB sugar and vanilla extract and mix briefly, and spoon it evenly over meringue. Cover cream with strawberries, allowing a small amount of their liquid to dribble onto cream. Serve immediately.
While the cracks probably mean that Paul Hollywood won't be extending his hand to me anytime soon, this was a huge hit - the meringue has several textures from crunchy to marshmallowy that pairs nicely with the cream and berries. I was out of the syrupy balsamic vinegar from Napa so I had to sub with cheap grocery store brand [Read: my husband threw out my vinegar as it was 3 years out of date...I would have kept it - vinegar doesn't die!]. This and using far end of season strawberries were my only regrets with this meal. I was nervous about cutting into this, so assembled (and ate) it right on the baking sheet (see below). I'd definitely make this again and play around with the fruit combos.
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