Pavlovas with Kiwis (Page 846)

RECIPE #1077
Date: Monday, December 28, 2009 -- 8pmLocation: Westerville, OHKitchen: Dave and Karen's HouseFellow Chef: MattyDining Companions: Brad, Deniz, Dave, and Karen HRecipe Rating: A-


I made this dessert for my special gentleman's family a couple weeks ago. I started by making the meringue. I beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar, then added sugar and beat until they held stiff peaks. I beat in white vinegar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. I spread the egg white mixture on some baking sheets lined with parchment to form 6 rounds. I baked them in a low oven until they were crispy on the outside but soft in the center. I then let them cool. To assemble the dessert, my special gentleman and I topped each meringue with some sweetened whipped cream, pieces of kiwi, and fruit sorbet. I have had pavlova before and was never too taken with it, but this dessert was awesome! It was texturally interesting and had a great combination of flavors. The crispness from the meringue was wonderful with the cloud of whipped cream, and the cool smoothness of the sorbet. The meringue had a great subtle flavor to it too, which was enhanced by the fruit and the sorbet. I wasn't sure how well this dessert would go over, but everyone seemed to love it. If you are interested in making pavlova (an Australian classic) this is a good recipe to try!

The recipe is here.

Hello from Berkeley! After 2900 miles on the road, we have arrived in Berkeley, California!

Over the weekend we were in Los Angeles visiting my brother and his girlfriend. We had a great time in LA, eating delicious food and seeing various parts of the city. On Saturday Spencer and Ellen took us to the Deep Creek hot springs in the San Bernardino National Forest. It was a great day trip -- only a couple hours drive from the city. We drove to what seemed like the middle of nowhere in the dessert. There was a trailhead, and we hiked about an hour down a relatively steep hill. At the bottom was a river with icy cold water. We crossed the thigh-high river (which was a challenge -- it was hard to keep walking through the water once your feet were numb!). On the other side of the river were the hot spring pools. The water in these pools was between 100 and 115 degrees or so, heated by the natural hot springs. We changed into our swimwear and lounged in the various pools -- climbing the rocks from one pool to another -- for quite awhile. It was shocking to me how few people were there given how spectacular it was to be sitting in a natural hot spring in the middle of the dessert. I think some people are dissuaded by the remoteness of it (and it was a pretty steep hike on the way out), but we loved going there. Perhaps some people are also discouraged by the nudist culture at these hot springs. If you are in Southern California and don't mind a some nudity though, it is definitely a great place to go.

This morning we got up early and drove from LA to San Francisco just in time to attend a party celebrating the baptism of Cate, our friends Brenda and Scarecrow's baby. We had a fun time with them (and Cate is looking so adorable!), then we drove to Berkeley. Now we are getting settled in the house where my special gentleman will be living for the next five months. We had a great trip but it felt nice to unpack the car and buy some groceries!