09/05 CRACK'D PAVLOVA
"...then forget about falling from grace"
Nobody's perfect, what do you expect. I try my best, but feel that falling from grace carries a fragile elegance. There's nothing wrong with embracing a free fall, it can bring you back to reality, and its ugly to fight it. All well and good, but this is a cake. A cake which flourishes in the fall. Like its poised namesake, the meringue leaped and fell, landing in a broken heap. Violated by the visceral blood of the berries. Such dramatic description is in honour of the theatrical muse it was invented for.
The collision of the shattered egg-white and the soft cream carries the lightest flavor - submissive only to the strength of the dark berries. Without pain there is no beauty and always relishing the flamboyance of the dark side - Maleficent, Darth Maul, Grace Jones - this subversive taste is hugely attractive. Let yourself fall, living is a beautiful mess.
5 Egg Whites
300g Castor Sugar
1 tsp White Vinegar
2 tsp Corn Flour
1 tsp Vanilla
300ml Cream
Mixed Berries/fruits (fresh)
What I did - Oven preheated to 180degrees
This recipe is coming from someone who as a child never warmed to Pavlova, and avoided ever since. However, I realized that I like all the elements separately and am persistent when challenged. Saying that this is an amalgamation of various one-and-only recipes, and worked crackingly.
The base for any variant of Pavlova is egg whites, sugar and cream. The flavors and extras are all dependent on what you have at hand. So this version happens to be a gorgeously Eton-mess-esque vanilla berry version. There should be no rules when it comes to flavor and rarely ever repeat.
The oven needs to be preheated, and then the meringue can be started. Its not that hard, but having a stand mixer helps remove any stress of failure - the most unhelpful ingredient of any kitchen. Whip the egg whites and vanilla into a stiff, frothy cloud. Then on a high speed trickle the sugar in in a slow sandy stream, the whites will become enameled and glossy quickly. Once the sugar is combined, add the white vinegar and corn flour - this helps the whites to cook firmly without unwanted moisture.
Line a baking tray and flatten the glossy cloud of meringue into an even disc - not neat, but an even thickness. Slide it into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 150degrees, baking for 30 minutes. Turn the heat down to 120degrees for a further 45 minutes. The sign that the bake is working is if there is no change in shape, but the white gloss should turn into a chalky bone. Turn the oven off and leave the door half open until the meringue is completely cooled.
Turn the meringue disc out onto whatever elven serving dish you can get your hands on. Let the chalky dome collapse and peel off the baking parchment. Now for the topping, whip the cream with a handful of berries in so that they are bashed into submission and pigment the cream with flecks of colour. Spatula onto the crushed cloud then crown with the ruby berries*.
Let it rest in the fridge for an hour or letting the layers fuse. There is no point trying to serve this gracefully, spoon into bowls. Your mouth will recognize the fragility.
*The berries are macerated a la italia, in a slug of equal parts dark balsamic vinegar and sugar.
JG
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