
Originally Posted by
Geoff
Pavlova is a meringue dessert named after the ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova. It is crispy on the outside but light and fluffy inside.
Keith Money, a biographer of Anna Pavlova, wrote that a chef at a hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, invented the dish when Pavlova visited there in 1926 on her world tour.
Pavlova is made by beating egg whites (and sometimes salt) to a very stiff consistency before folding in caster sugar, white vinegar, cornstarch plus vanilla sometimes, and slow-baking the mixture to create the meringue This makes the outside of the pavlova a crisp crunchy shell, while the interior remains soft and moist.
Pavlova is traditionally decorated with topping of whipped cream and fresh fruit of sweet/tart flavors, such as strawberries and kiwifruit, or passionfruit and banana or berries and peach slices. Raspberry is a popular topping in the United Kingdom, with the tartness of raspberries contrasting with the sweetness of sugar. Factory-made pavlovas can be purchased at supermarkets and decorated as desired, but usually kinda suck compared to home-made. A commercial product is available that includes pre-mixed ingredients for baking the meringue shell, requiring only the addition of water and sugar.
Leftover decorated pavlova can be refrigerated overnight, but the dessert 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.
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