Recently, my friend (Katie from Tulsa Details) and I teamed up for a Sweets and Stems event. It was so much fun — I did a class on a favorite dessert of mine, and Katie taught us how to do a flower arrangement. It was such a fun idea for a girls night!
The dessert I chose was something I thought a lot of people might be intimidated by… creme brûlée. Making creme brûlée was fun and delicious, but it also required a bunch of egg yolks. I hate to let perfectly good food to go waste, so I was on a mission to use the leftover egg whites. Enter: pavlova. Or in this case, “slablova.” The term “slablova,” coined by Food52, means it’s enough to serve your summer crowd!
I was not familiar with pavlova, but once I had it I was hooked. I love the combination of strawberries and balsamic with a little bit of sweet whipped cream. But, the pavlova is the real star of the dessert. It’s so light and airy you won’t feel like you’re over-indulging, even when you inevitably go back for seconds (or thirds).
The key to this recipe is lots of time and an equal amount of patience. You need room-temperature eggs, so go ahead and set some out right now. I’ll wait!
After whipping the egg whites for what seems like forever, you bake it for 2 1/2 hours and let it sit for another 3 hours. While the time investment is heavy, the effort is actually really minimal. Let your KitchenAid and oven do all the work while you relax with a cocktail in your hand.
Strawberry Balsamic Pavlova
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 3/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp. superfine sugar divided
- 8 large egg whites at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups fresh strawberries quartered
- 1/4 cup torn fresh basil
- 3 tablespoons white or red balsamic vinegar
- 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk cornstarch and 1 3/4 cups sugar in a small bowl.
- Beat egg whites, lemon juice and salt in an electric mixer on medium (about 1-2 minutes, until frothy). Increase speed to medium-high and slowly add the cornstarch/sugar mixture. Beat for about 10 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
- Form the meringue into a 13x10-inch rectangle on the parchment paper. Bake at 250°F until firm (approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes). Next, turn off the oven and let stand in oven until it's completely cool (another 3 hours).
- Combine strawberries, basil and vinegar and let sit for 30 minutes.
- When you're ready to serve it, beat the heavy cream with 1 Tbsp sugar in the mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Spread evenly over the meringue. Top with strawberry balsamic mixture and serve immediately.