Author: Susan Murray, www.awomancooksinasheville.com
Ingredients
For the Meringue
6eggs whitesroom temperature
1 ½cupcaster sugar
¼tspsalt
¼tspcream of tarter
For the Raspberry Sauce
2 ½cfrozen raspberries
¾csugar
½cwater
½tspvanilla
2tspcornstarch
2tbspwater
1tbspbutter
Pinchsalt
To Assemble the Cake
1 ¼cupsheavy cream
1tspvanilla
1-2tbsppowdered sugar
6passion fruitspulp and seeds (optional)
Fresh raspberries
1-2ozgood quality chocolate
Instructions
MAKE THE MERINGUE
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Trace a 9”-10” circle on a piece of parchment paper. Place the parchment paper on a baking tray.
In the bowl of a mixer beat the egg white until they become foamy. Beat in the salt and cream of tartar. Continue beating until the egg whites form soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar a tablespoon at a time , beating well after each addition. It should take 6-8 minutes to incorporate all the sugar.
Use a large spoon to drop dollops of the egg mixture on the parchment paper circle. If you like, smooth the surface of the meringue with a spatula.
Bake the meringue on the center rack of the oven for about 1 ½ hours. Watch that the meringue does not brown. The exterior should be dry. Turn the oven off and leave the pavlova in the oven with the door ajar overnight, or until the oven (and the pavlova) is completely cool.
If not serving the pavlova right away, store in an airtight container for one-three days.
MAKE THE RASPBERRY SAUCE
While the meringue is baking make the raspberry sauce.
In a medium pan, stir together 1 ½ c raspberries, ¾ c sugar and ½ c water. Heat over low to medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to heat to a boil, stirring to keep the sides and bottom from burning. Make a thin paste out of the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir this into the raspberry mixture. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low and continue to boil slowly until mixture has thickened. This can take as much as four minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Continue to stir until the butter has melted. Add the salt and vanilla and cool for fifteen minutes. Add the rest of the raspberries and cool. Store in the refrigerator until needed.
ASSEMBLE THE PAVLOVA
Whip the heavy cream until thick. Whip in the vanilla and powdered sugar to taste.
Remove the pulp from the passion fruits if using them.
Grate the chocolate or use a peeler to make curls.
Spread a layer of whipped cream on top of the meringue. Top with passion fruit (optional). If you are not using passionfruit, spread all of the whipped cream over the tops and sides of the meringue.
Decorate with fresh raspberries and chocolate. Serve with raspberry sauce on top.
The Pavlova is best eaten within three hours or so of assembly. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.