JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Welcome, everyone, to another eagerly-anticipated recipe and cooking lesson from our own Celia Wakefield. Today she's preparing a lovely spring dessert - Pavlova. I "helped" (stood around and shot video) and I can assure you of two things: 1) if you have the right equipment, this showy pastry really isn't hard, and 2) it's SO GOOD. Scroll down to the bottom for our how-to videos.
I am so happy to be back talking to you on JRW; whether author, blogger or fan I greet you all in the name of Spring. Julia has invited me back after what we could call, “Our winter of discontent”, our shared experience with COVID, which I will get out of the way so that we can focus on what Spring is offering us. Victor and I are fine, thank you all, we are vaccinated and like the mole will come out of our burrow cautiously to greet the world. But let us move to a time long ago when attending large, in fact huge gatherings, without looking like bank robbers, was the norm.
One of these annual gatherings took place in Westchester, NY, on the Campus of SUNY, Purchase in the ’80's. A huge summer festival, “Summerfare”, completely funded by PepsiCo (can you believe that?) The festival ran over ten years with an international array of artists; the Tokyo String Quartet, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Martine van Hamel, Victor Borge, Colleen Dewhurst, Mozart Operas each year, and the Handspan Theatre from Australia, just to name a few luminaries.
Each year the Festival opened with a grand outdoor production of Noyes Fludde, (Benjamin Britten), using local choruses, children, puppets, a cherry picker to place God high above the crowd and a huge, huge rainbow of balloons stretching over the field with the Performing Arts building as a backdrop. Children came to make animal costumes to parade into the ark. This was a splendid sight and a joy to be a part of.
I was a volunteer with the Prompters, whose work and mission was to support the PA Center, in any way needed. Ferrying artists from train and plane, helping backstage, cooking, yes, lots of cooking for the after performance receptions. We were a group of about 90, both women and men.
Someone had the bright idea that a cookbook capturing artists’ recipes who had appeared on the four stages would be a great fundraiser. Somehow I got involved with this project, and somehow I found I was the project manager. [Julia’s note: Knowing Celia, this is utterly unsurprising.]
Well, we collected the recipes, tested them, got them onto a computer disk (remember this was 1985), found a student in the Graphic Arts Department who was willing to do the design and layout as her senior project, and a printer. We were set. Being that you all live in the 20’s, can you spot what I have left out? Yes, marketing.
None of the Prompters had any marketing experience, nor did I, nor did I want to take it on in addition to the rest of my tasks. So we got cobbling. Demos in Bloomingdales, talking to groups and then an offer from a very local cable station. Remember, it was the ’80’s and cable was new. I was volunteered to be the presenter. I was told I had a 5 minute spot to fill and that the host, we will call her Julia, wanted to help me with the demonstration.
After much searching through our recipes I chose the Handspan Theatre’s Pavlova recipe which I knew could be done in the allocated time. Anna Pavlova visited Australia in 1926 and was such a success they renamed a cake after her. (It does appear there is a rivalry between Aussies and Kiwis as to who actually made the cake and named it for Pavlova. You can find the story on Wiki.
We arrived at the studio in good time. My cooler was full of almost whipped cream, egg whites, fruit and sets of meringue shells made in advance. My host, Julia, was late. I was getting more and more concerned about the fast deflating whipped cream, and other items which needed a cold environment. Julia arrived. Julia had broken her arm, a minor point that they had not considered we needed to know, but that wasn’t going to stop her “helping”.
I was frantically reorganizing how we could demonstrate this recipe with one arm short! I remember saying at one point, “Look how well Julia is sifting sugar with one hand!” while I held the bowl, sieve and sugar container for her. I don’t know if this little piece of art was the inspiration for the Food Network, but nowadays we have so many places to check out our recipes and techniques. However today, my lovely sous chef, Julia, and I will demonstrate how to make a pavlova in five minutes, or possibly a little longer.
Here is the Pavlova recipe from the Handspan Theatre, Australia
Preparation:
Have a very clean, grease free bowl and whisk to beat the eggs. An electric one is best.
If you have a copper bowl here’s the opportunity to use it. Egg whites love copper.
You can make this any size but be sure to trace your shape on parchment paper first.
I freeze egg whites, usually in small batches of 4 each, adding each white when it’s available. They have a long freezer life and still beat up very well.
Ingredients:
3 egg whites at room temperature
3/4 cup superfine sugar, if possible (Put a cup of regular sugar in a Food Processor and whirl, then measure)
1/2 tsp Cornstarch
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Topping:
1 Cup + Heavy Cream, best quality you can find
Fresh Fruit for decoration, but avoid acid fruits. Strawberries, raspberries, mango slices, Kiwi slices, Passion fruit, blackberries, blueberries and peaches all work well. The decorations can include candies etc.
Oven temperature 250 - 300 degrees
Trace your shape onto parchment paper and sprinkle lightly with cornstarch. Place on a cookie sheet.
Whisk egg whites until stiff, they should stand up when the whisk is inverted.
Add sugar a spoon at a time, then beat at top speed to dissolve the sugar
Stop beating and gently fold in the cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla.
Spread part of the mixture over the circle, then pipe or spoon the remaining egg whites to form an edging.
Bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. When it is very crisp, turn the oven off, leave the door open a fraction and allow to cool down before removing the paper and filling the shell.
It is better to fill your Pavlova at close to serving time as possible.
Cut the fruit before adding cream to the shell.
Whip the cream till stiff and cover the meringue, then decorate away with fruits, tiny cookies, candies - I’m thinking mini Easter eggs.
A Pavlova is a fun, light-hearted dessert and it’s gluten free. What could be better to celebrate Spring and vaccinations? Bon Appetit, or as the Aussies might say, “Eat up Mate!”
