Dessert · Australia and New Zealand
Pavlova
A crisp, soft-centered meringue piled with cream and berries.
About the dish
Pavlova is a meringue dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Both countries claim to have invented it, and food historians have traced the debate through old recipe books for decades.
Egg whites are whipped in a very clean bowl, since any trace of fat or yolk keeps them from foaming, and sugar is added gradually until the meringue is thick, glossy and the sugar has dissolved. A little cornstarch and vinegar are folded in, which help give the pavlova its soft, marshmallow-like center. It is shaped into a round with a shallow hollow and baked at a low temperature, then left to cool in the oven with the door ajar, which helps limit cracking.
The finished shell is crisp outside and soft within. Just before serving it is piled with whipped cream and fresh fruit, often passion fruit, kiwi, strawberries or berries. The meringue is very sweet, so the tart fruit and the richness of the cream are what balance it.
Written from general cooking knowledge, as background on a dish from the game’s recipe book. It is not a tested recipe.
The flavors it leans on
Pavlova in Night Kitchen
In the game, Pavlova is a dessert in the recipe book. A plate is named Pavlova when it holds these cards and is cooked with exactly these techniques, with at most one extra ingredient.
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Brown sugar
- Berries
Techniques
- Whip
- Bake
How those cards taste
Cooked from just these cards for an average ticket, before tonight’s mood and quirks, it would please Odile (3 stars), Hattie (3 stars) and Dot (2 stars) most.
“Egg whites and sugar whipped and baked into a cloud, with berries on top. Named for a dancer.”
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