There are desserts I like to bake for the sake of baking, rather than eat, and treats I enjoy eating that I don’t bake (like croissants). Then, we have the pavlova which falls into both categories. I love making meringue. It’s so dramatic when the egg whites change to glossy white. As for eating pavlova, it’s texturally fantastic. You get the the crunch and crumble of the meringue, creaminess from the whipped cream and then juicy, sweet-tart fruit.
Now for this pavlova, I got a little fancy with the piping. The design was inspired by a pavlova from Paris chef Cyril Lignac but his petals was more rounded whereas mine turned ended up more of a sunflower. I like that I turned it into something new and my own. You don’t need to pipe if you don’t want to. You can shape the pavlova into a circle with a back of spoon with a well in the middle for the filling and berries. No matter what shape, it will be delicious.
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Ingredients:
Cyril Lignac Meringue:
110 g egg whites, approximately 3 large eggs
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
110 g granulated sugar
110 g confectioners’ sugar
Macerated Strawberries:
454 g (1 pound) strawberries, hulled and quartered
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar depending on sweetness of berries
Cream Filling:
360g heavy whipping cream, cold
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Directions:
For the pavlova:
Preheat the oven to 200°F. On a half sheet of parchment paper, draw an 8″ circle using a cake pan as a guide. Flip the parchment over so it’s drawn side down on a half sheet pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites, salt and lemon juice. Whip on medium speed, 2-3 minutes, until bubbly and foamy. With the mixer running, gradually add the granulated sugar until dissolved. Turn the mixer to high speed and whip, 5-6 minutes, until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Sift the confectioners’ sugar into the bowl and gently fold in with a rubber spatula until incorporated, careful not to over whip as it can deflate the meringue. Add 1/3 of the meringue to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-1″ round piping tip. Put the remainder of the meringue into a large piping bag fitted with a St. Honore piping tip.
Using the round tip, pipe to in a concentric circle to fill the outline. Then with the St. Honore tip, pipe 2-3″ petals around the circle, with the end of the petal overlapping the edge of the circle to seal the two together. You can see how it’s done in this video. Repeat another ring of petals on top of the first set, piping in between the petals so they’re staggered. If you have any extra meringue, pipe dollops onto parchment to bake as well.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the meringue to cool down slowly for at least 2 hours, or overnight. This will help prevent cracking. Do not open the oven door.
For the berries:
In a medium bowl, toss the berries with the lemon juice and granulated sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes to macerate.
For the cream:
With a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, until it reaches stiff peaks. Add the cream to a large piping bag fitted with a St. Honore piping tip.
To assemble:
Pipe rows to fill in the center of the meringue. Then pipe whipped cream petals on top of the meringue petals. Fill the center of the whipped cream with strawberries. Save the macerated juices for serving. You can serve right away or place the pavlova in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
To serve:
Slice the pavlova into wedges. Drizzle the macerated berry juice onto each slice. I like to crumble the extra meringues on top for even more crunch and texture.
Serves 8.