You may have heard of Sprinkles, the super popular cupcake shop that started in Los Angeles (they've now spread to five other cities and also sell their mixes at Williams-Sonoma; the red velvet is pretty rockin'). Their treats are divine and even though I live no where near a shop, I love following them on twitter—each day they announce a secret word and give a free cupcake to the first 25 people who whisper it at each shop. I figured that if Candace Nelson, the owner, could have such a way with cupcakes, surely she'd have other delicious sweets to share. Below is her Pavlova recipe, which is light, crunchy and the perfect vehicle to eat up all of the sweet summer fruit you're picking up at the farm stand right now.

Pavlova
Courtesy of Candace Nelson, Owner/Executive Pastry Chef of Sprinkles cupcakes

½ cup egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 cup of peaches, kiwi or nectarines, sliced
1 cup of summer berries: strawberries, blackberries or raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Add egg whites, cream of tartar and salt to a mixer bowl with whisk attachment. Whisk for a few minutes until foamy. 

3. Add sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla and continue to whip until stiff and glossy (up to 10 more minutes).

4. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and spoon the eggwhites into a large circle on the parchment (about 9 inches diameter). Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake until meringue is puffed and light browned (about 45 minutes more). Turn oven off and let pavlova cool inside the oven with the door slightly open for 30 minutes.

5. Whip cream and brown sugar together until smooth and fairly stiff. Spoon it on center of cooled meringue disk and spread out to within ½ inch of the edge. Arrange the fruit onto the cream. Cut with a knife and serve in slices.

P.S. I promise to do a savory main dish next week as I realize I've been on a bit of a sweet kick lately. And, if you have any specific recipes that you're looking for, or would like to tell us about a dish that you recently ate at a restaurant and would like to try at home, please do!

[Image courtesy of Gal Friday's flickr stream]

0 Comments