It's 10:00 p.m. and I'm beat. It was a long day at the fair, some days just feel longer than others. It didn't help that I ate "fair food", which made me feel like I was in a coma for the late part of the afternoon. Friday is $ 1.00 food tastings, so we make out way out into the fair to have small bites of craziness. I had a bite of...deep fried Oreo cookie, Pink's hot dog, Tasty Chips, and a cinnamon roll. You can see now why I ran out of energy by 3:00 in the afternoon. On stage today we had "Harry's Deli", they were no ordinary sandwich shop. Harry made me a prime cut steak sandwich with house made mayo, chimichurri, and grilled onions- it was the best sandwich I've eaten in ... well can't remember when. Definitely going to make my way out there to try the rest of their deli delights. Other than the drunk guy who trashed my stage last night and tore off my oven door, in an apron no less- today was a good day.
I recently received a comment on the blog from someone who I noticed had more than one blog herself- interesting I thought, so I clicked away. So excited to find "Have the Cake", a blogging community of cooks who choose one recipe a month and everyone posts their creative version of ... this month ~Pavlova. I had to laugh because not only was I interested in joining, but my demonstrations for the fair today were already planned to be Almond Pavlova. I agreed with myself it was clearly a sign that I should join. Since today is the last day of the month I had to - wanted to post before the day was over. So it's now 10:27 p.m. here I sit writing about this crispy,crackly, gooey, and oh so sweet dessert we call - Pavlova. Most recipes call for superfine sugar, but I always have used regular sugar with no problems at all. The almond extract adds another dimension of flavor and the berry sauce is... good on anything. I had leftover churro (last post) ganache that I filled each Pavlova nest with as an added surprise under the berries and used fresh gooseberries to add a nice sour tartness to the mix. So there ... I did it, my first post for "Have the Cake"...
4 Egg Whites
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 Teaspoons cornstarch
1 Teaspoon white vinegar
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Teaspoon almond extract
1/4 Cup sliced toasted almonds
2 Cups of fresh berries
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Add egg whites and a pinch of salt to the bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment
Mix on low until small bubbles begin to form
Turn mixer to high and whisk until soft peaks form
Slowly add in sugar- raining the sugar onto the meringue with the mixer running
Continue whisking until shiny and stiff peaks develop
Add in cornstarch, vinegar, vanilla, and almond extract
With a spatula gently fill a large pastry bag with a star tip
Line a baking sheet with parchment and pipe out 4-5 inch rounds about 2 inches high
Sprinkle with almonds
Place pavlova into oven and reduce heat to 250 degrees- bake for 1 hour- turn off oven and allow to cool for an additional hour
Store in an airtight container
2 Cups mixed frozen berries (raspberry, strawberry,blueberry)
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon berry fruit spread or preserves
2 Tablespoons honey or agave syrup
Zest of 1 Orange
1 Tablespoon Grand Manier
In a small sauce pot bring berries, salt, fruit spread/preserves, honey, and orange zest to a low simmer
Remove from heat and blend until smooth with a hand held emulsion blender or standing blender
Run blended sauce through a fine mesh strainer
Stir in Grand Manier
Assemble by filling pavlova with fresh fruit and topping with berry sauce
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