Scarlett WRaspberry Pavlova with Red Berry Sauce
December 22nd 2006 09:01
Raspberry Pavlova with Red Berry Sauce
About Pavlova
Pavlova is a meringue dessert named after the ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova. It is crispy on the outside but light and fluffy inside.
Professor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at Otago University in New Zealand found a pavlova recipe in a 1933 Rangiora Mothers’ Union cookery book, including the correct name of the dish, the correct ingredients, and the correct cooking method. Professor Leach also has an even earlier copy of the pavlova recipe from a 1929 rural New Zealand magazine.
Keith Money, a biographer of Anna Pavlova, wrote that a chef at a hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, created the dish when Pavlova visited there in 1926 on her world tour. Australians say the pavlova is based on a cake baked by Bert Sachse at the Esplanade Hotel in Perth on 3 October 1935, but Sachse’s descendants believe that he may have come up with the recipe earlier, since Anna Pavlova visited Australia in 1926 and 1929 and died in 1931.
An NZI Insurance ad at Wellington Airport lampooning Australia’s claim to the pavlova Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on Pavlova.
Pavlova is traditionally decorated with whipped cream and fresh fruit, notably strawberries, peach slices, passionfruit and /or Kiwifruit. Raspberry is a popular topping in the UK, with the tartness of raspberries contrasting with the sweetness of sugar. Factory-made pavlovas can be purchased at supermarkets and decorated as desired, but rarely achieve home-baked quality.
Leftover decorated pavlova can be stored in the fridge overnight, but will absorb moisture from the air and lose its crispness. Undecorated pavlova can safely be left overnight in the oven in which it was baked, to be decorated in the morning.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 6-8
6 egg whites
350 gm caster sugar
1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar
A pinch of cream of tartar
300-400 gm raspberries and other mixed fruit, such as blueberries, red and white currants or strawberries, halved if necessary
For the sauce
125 gm fresh raspberries or other red berries such as loganberries or tayberries, defrosted if frozen
300 gm low-fat fromage frais
2 tablespoons icing sugar, or to taste
To garnish
fresh mint leaves, optional
1. Heat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius. Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper or baking paper.
2. Whisk the egg whites in a very large bowl until soft peaks form, then gradually whisk in the sugar to make a stiff meringue. Whisk in the raspberry vinegar and cream of tartar.
3. Pile the meringue into a round measuring about 30cm across, on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 1½ - 2 hours until it is crisp on the outside and only very slightly coloured.
4. Leave the meringue to cool on the baking sheet for at least 2 hours, or overnight, then transfer it to a serving platter.
5. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Purée the berries and strain them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Stir in the fromage frais. Add sugar to taste, cover and chill.
6. Pick over, rinse and dry the mixed soft fruits as necessary.
7. To serve, cut the pavlova into wedges, partly covered with chilled sauce and soft fruit, and garnished with mint, if you like.
Tips:
A dash of raspberry vinegar makes a slightly tart base for sweet summer fruit.
**From “Low Fat No Fat Cookbook” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” **
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