Peach and Rosemary Pavlova #TheCakeSliceBakers

 

Airy meringue, vanilla-scented whipped cream, and peaches elevated with fragrant rosemary.  What's not to like?

In truth, I chose this as my selection from this month's Cake Slice Bakers choices because I was tired.

Just about everyone is tired these days, I know.  In their hearts and in their souls.

I also have struggled to choose hope and joy on a "meta" level. 

But these past two months, I've been baking a LOT, and was just tired of creaming butter and sugar, lol.  The other tasty choices were Earl Grey Blueberry Muffins, and a Summer Berry Genoise, but I chose the one that was not a cake.  Check out the links at the bottom of this post to see what the other bakers chose!   

I love to bake.  It just makes me happy and is a creative outlet that can minister to people's hearts in a unique way.  But after two wedding cakes for two friends and birthday cakes for two of my kids in the span of 1.5 months, and my cupcake liner overfloweth.  Or was overflowing-eth.  The itch is returning, and I'm almost over my brief cake-making hiatus.  I can't help it.  

The car always says it's hotter than it actually is, but dang.
That's southern New Mexico in August, for you.

Also, meringues are baked low and slow, and not having the kitchen heated up for a long time when it is so stinkin' hot outside was appealing.

Also, I am 8 months pregnant with a surprise quarantine baby.  

Surprise! 

Actually, it hasn't been a surprise to us for quite a few months now, but that is also adding to overall tiredness.  At this point in pregnancy with all of my kids, any kind of productive, nesting instinct is far outweighed by my lay-on-the-couch instinct.  So I didn't feel like doing very much work.

But back to pavlova!

Anna Pavlova as "The Dying Swan"

Named after the famed Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, this dessert is said to have been invented in the 1920s in either Australia or New Zealand to commemorate her dancing tour.  I hear pavlova's origin is a source of great contention between Kiwis and Aussies--both claiming to be the originators.  

And I see why--pavlovas are fantastic.

These desserts are deceptively simple--meringues that are crispy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside, topped with the richness that comes with whipped cream, and usually topped with fruit to add freshness and acidity.  There are a million combinations of flavors, but this one is made unique with the addition of herbal notes to a peach topping.

A pavlovita :)

Pavlovas are a celebration dessert--showstoppers that are meant to be shared and need to be eaten within a couple of hours once assembled.  This was just for our family, so I opted to half the recipe and pipe little "pavlovitas." Because I need to eat a whole pavlova like I need a hole in my head.

This simplicity of this recipe appealed to me, but meringue is not without it's challenges.

Marshmallowy on the inside, my pavlovas were not.  They were not browned, but crunchy all the way through.  I am 100% certain that this was my fault, and not the recipe's though. For smaller pavlovas, the cookbook recommended halving the 90 minute baking time. But I think 30 minutues would have been sufficient due to my pavlovitas' diminutive size.

I enjoyed the herbal flavor with the peaches, but I think I would add less next time to make it more subtle.  Like one sprig instead of 3, and let is steep for half of the time. The woodsy touch made it very sophisticated, but the strong, wintry flavor threw me off a little in a summer dessert. But my tastebuds are wonky right now, too.  It was good as is, but definitely warrants another try to get the technical issues solved and to adjust flavors. 

But with such good "bones" to a dessert, you can hardly go wrong.  Even people who aren't fans of herbal flavors can find something good in this pavlova.  Picky Four-Year-Old Daughter said, "Yum! The peach stuff is terrible, but the white stuff is yummy!" And she ate the whole thing.

So give this Peach and Rosemary Pavlova a try! It may just have you doing pirouettes across your kitchen;)

Peach and Rosemary Pavlova

from The New Way to Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi

Meringue:

1 1/4 cups sugar

2/3 cup (150 g) egg whites

1 teaspoon cornstarch 

squeeze of lemon (a tiny bit of vinegar will work too)

1. Heat the oven to 375F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment, and trace 2 8" circles with pencil.  Flip the paper over so that you don't get pencil lines on your meringue.

2. In a parchment-lined deep baking dish, heat the sugar in the oven for about 5 minutes.  This will help the sugar to better incorporate into the egg whites.  When the edges of the sugar pile start to melt, remove from the oven.  Turn the temperature down to 250F.

3. Wipe the bowl of your stand mixer down with a squeeze of lemon or bit of vinegar to remove grease.  Add the egg whites and whip for 2 minutes on low speed, then turn the speed up to medium high.  When stiff peaks begin to form, with the mixer still on, begin adding the hot sugar by the spoonful--waiting 10 seconds after each addition.  

4. Once the sugar has all been added, continue whisking for 2 minutes--until meringue is smooth and glossy.  Add the cornstarch and whisk a few seconds to combine.  The meringue is ready when you can turn the bowl upside down without anything falling out.

Peach Filling:

2 1/2 cups fresh or canned peaches (I used canned)

1/4 cup sugar

3 or more rosemary sprigs (I'd recommend only using one)

1 T fresh lemon juice

3 T water

1. Peel and chop the peaches into thick slices if using fresh.  In a medium saucepan, add all the filling ingredients and simmer for 8-10 minutes--until peaches are softened.  Let the mixture cool before removing the rosemary sprigs.  If desired, blend half of the mixture and add back to the larger slices to make more of a saucy texture.

Whipped Cream:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 T vanilla extract

Scant 2/3 cups shaved white chocolate

1. Whip the heavy cream and vanilla in a bowl until you get stiff peaks.  Be careful not to overwhip--you'll get butter.

Assembly:

Take the first layer of meringue and put it on a large serving plate.  Top it with half of the whipped cream, then half of the white chocolate shavings.  Add half of the peach filling, then add the second layer of meringue and repeat.  Garnish with a few rosemary sprigs, if desired.

Enjoy:)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The New Way To Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes! Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details. The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

It is a new year and a new book - The New Way To Cake - and our choices for August 2020 were 

Summer Berry Cake

• My Recipe Reviews

Peach & Rosemary Pavlova

• A Little Bit of All Right
• Amandie Bakes

Earl Grey & Blueberry Tea Cakes

• All That's Left Are The Crumbs 
• Making Miracles
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sweet Sensations