I would like to formally introduce you to my new favorite dessert: the elegant Strawberry Pavlova. Originating in New Zealand, this delectable dessert’s name hails from the talented Russian ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova. As the story goes, this dessert was created to resemble the shape of her ballet skirt, and was first served to the dancer herself during one of her New Zealand tours in the 1920’s.
This specific recipe, courtesy of my good friend Jan Steinkamp, is a classic dessert that is not only super impressive, but melt-in-your-mouth delicious. A light and tender cloud of meringue topped with crunchy sliced almonds, baked until golden brown, topped with an almond-flavored whipped cream and the freshest strawberries of the season. Perfectly sweet and light, this gourmet dessert was the shining star of our Easter table yesterday!
The cloud of meringue topped with almonds and ready to be baked
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Strawberry Pavlova
Ingredients:
- Recipe courtesy of Jan Steinkamp
- 4 jumbo egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sliced almonds
- Whipped cream (flavored with ¼ teaspoon almond extract & confectioner’s sugar)
- Sliced strawberries, raspberries, or other fresh fruit
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt for approximately 5 minutes on high speed, or until stiff peaks form. Then gradually beat in the sugar. Gently fold in the cornstarch, vinegar, and vanilla.
- Invert a (8 or 9-inch) cake pan and cover the bottom (this is the exterior bottom) with aluminum foil. Pile the meringue on top of the foil. Sprinkle generously with sliced almonds.
- Bake for 5 minutes or until the meringue just turns a gold brown. Then immediately reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and cool. Remove the cooked meringue still on the foil from the pan, and then carefully remove the aluminum foil from the bottom of the meringue. Place on a serving dish, top with whipped cream and then the fresh fruit.
Tagged: almond extract, almond whipped cream, Anna Pavlova, Australian, ballet dancer, dessert, egg whites, meringue, New Zealand, pavlova, sliced almonds, strawberries, whipped cream
I enjoyed the history you researched and again what lovely pictures!
Thanks Mrs. Jan. I oh-so-loved this recipe and appreciate you sharing it with me. It’s such a lovely dessert, it’s hard to take a bad photo of it! :>