Pavlova is a type of dessert made with meringue, named in honor of Anna Pávlova. It is a crunchy cake on the outside and very creamy and light on the inside. New Zealanders and Australians alike have claimed ownership of the recipe, as has the Anzac biscuit, although the oldest book describing the recipe was published in New Zealand.
What they do agree on is that they did it in honor of the famous Russian dancer Anna Pávlova. It is said that the dancer visited New Zealand and this dessert was born in her honor, which they named after her.
Pavlova is a well-known dessert in both Australia and New Zealand. It consists of a meringue base on which cream and pieces of fruit are put, not lacking the red fruits. It is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.
There are those who make a circular or square base and put the other ingredients on it, and there are those who do it by forming a box with the meringue and then filling it. They are different versions of the same dessert. It is filled at the moment of serving, since the meringue in contact with the humidity of the fruit would make it crumble.
There are people who are dedicated to researching where each dessert comes from. Professor Helen Leach, from the University of Otago, found a very old book in New Zealand where there is a recipe similar to pavlova. This book is from 1929. If this is true, it would nullify Australia being the author of the cake, since the first recipes found come from 1940.
As the dancer’s biographer writes, when she was on her 1926 world tour, during her stay in New Zealand, the chef of the hotel where Anna Pávlova was staying invented this dessert to surprise her.
Since then, Anna Pávlova is not only known for her elegance on stage and her spectacular talent as a dancer, but she is also known for being the inspiration for this dessert.
Check out a delicious recipe from Meringue Pavlova!
Meringue Pavlova
2
servings30
minutes1
hour30
minutesTo make your Meringue Pavlova, you will need to use the following ingredients. Check the preparation mode step-by-step.
Ingredients
Egg Whte
Caster Sugar
Corn Starch
Lemon Juice
Vanilla Extract
Mascarpone
Whipping Cream
Food Coloring
Fruit
Directions
- Add 2 eggs in a bowl.
- Add 3 ml of lemon juice.
- Whip with an electric whisk.
- Add a total of 90 grams of sugar in three batches during the whip.
- Add 2ml of vanilla extract.
- Sift 5 g of cornstarch into meringue.
- Mix well.
- Add food coloring.
- Line a pan with parchment paper.
- Finishing the meringue into a column.
- Use a spatula or a spoon to draw lines around the meringue.
- Bake in preheated oven at 100 degrees Celsius for 90 minutes.
- When the time is up, open the oven door a crack. Let the meringue cool in the oven.
- Use a knife to make a hole at the top of the meringue.
- Add 40 grams of mascarpone cheese in a bowl.
- Add 80 ml of whipping cream.
- 10 g of sugar.
- Beat until about 60% whipped.
- Cut the fruit into pieces.
- Add the cream into the meringue.
- Add the fruit pieces.
- Your Meringue Pavlova is ready!
