raspberry pavlova birthday cake
An Australian friend of mine loves to make pavlovas and she tempted me with a photo of one of hers. Pavlova is a cake-sized meringue topped with whipped cream and sometimes fruit. It’s a nice, light, gluten-free dessert. We had a birthday to celebrate so I made one the same day using Michelle’s pavlova recipe from Brown-eyed Baker.
The American recipes for pavlova that I’ve seen use cream of tartar to stiffen the egg whites, while Australian recipes use white vinegar. I found a couple of (American) sources stating that cream of tartar works better than lemon juice or vinegar to stiffen egg whites, but my Aussie friend assured me that she would never use cream of tartar in one of her pavlovas (something like ‘over my dead body’). She sent me her recipe a few days later and I will try it next time.
Aussie recipes also call for superfine, or caster, sugar. Since that’s not a common ingredient here in the US, I ground up granulated sugar very briefly in the Vitamix to make it superfine without blending it all the way to powdered sugar. That made the sugar less dense, yet I used the sugar quantity in the American recipe, so my pavlova turned out less sweet. We all liked it fine that way, especially with sweetened whipped cream for a topping.
pavlova with raspberry cream
I’ve read dire warnings online about how changing the proportions of ingredients will make a pavlova not turn out: luckily the egg whites whipped up amazingly firmly for me, enough that I called my son over to check it out. I used a wire whisk in the stand mixer for the recommended time.
I made raspberry-sweetened whipped cream from heavy whipping cream, Chambord raspberry liqueur, and a little sugar and vanilla. I topped the pavlova with the whipped cream, then garnished it with fresh raspberries and blackberries.
Once you top a pavlova with whipped cream its lifespan is limited. It immediately sags a little in the middle (this is not a super-elegant dessert) and left for too long will become soggy, so it’s best to serve it immediately. (Hmm. Now I notice that my friend only put the whipped cream around the sides of the cake. Next time?)
I had no trouble finishing up the leftovers the next day. Guess I don’t mind a bit of sogginess as long as it’s pavlova.
Here are a couple of pavlova recipes from my expat blogger friend Maureen of Orgasmic Chef:
Layered Pavlova with Chocolate Cream
Pavlova with Whipped Cream and Blueberries
Related Posts:
Raspberry Liqueur Whipped Cream A quick raspberry-sweetened whipped cream.- pavlova with raspberry cream pavlova with raspberry cream
- raspberry framboise whipped cream raspberry framboise whipped cream
Chocolate Porter Cake This striking black Chocolate Porter cake with a white whipped cream topping features an inspired flavor combination of cocoa and dark beer.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I only make pavlova when we’re entertaining and there’s never any left over so I don’t worry about a soggy pav. It’s funny, at lunch today I told my elderly father-in-law that he could invite his friends from the nursing home for an Easter lunch one day next week and he said, “And can we have a real pavlova?” Yes! Yours looks lovely.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef recently posted..Banana Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Hi Maureen! I love the story in your chocolate pavlova post about making dinner for your new in-laws. It’s a great story about negotiating the new relationship between you, your husband, and his family, and you both proved yourself and ended up making everyone happy. I don’t think I would have been confident enough to cook a meringue for dessert in that same situation! I see now that you also have some pavlova recipes and I’ve added them into my post.
It looks SO GOOD! I really have a hard time working with meringues. Guess I lack the patience. 🙁
Joanne recently posted..An Inspiralized Spring Promotion
Hmm, I’m not notably patient, I didn’t find this to be fussy. Probably the stand mixer helps because it’s hands off, I can set the timer for the appropriate amount of time and step away.
I haven’t had a pavlova in years, and I’m not sure I’ve ever made one. We made different kinds of meringues in school, but someone else likely got the pavlova assignment. Soggy or not, I would love to make one. I like Maureen’s idea of making one for a party. Otherwise I think I’d eat the entire thing!
susan // The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Baby Bok Choy Couscous with Mangoes and Strawberries
Cooking school must have been so much fun! Making dessert for an event and giving away any leftovers is always a good plan (that I should follow more often)!