Zutaten:

• 5 Eiweiß
• 240 g Staubzucker (fein gesiebt)
• 2 El Maisstärke
• 1 TL Weißweinessig
• 350 ml Schlagobers
• frische Früchte (ich habe hier Marillen, Pfirsiche und Himbeeren verwendet; Kiwi, Passionsfrucht, Bananen, Ribiseln etc. machen sich aber auch wahnsinnig gut)
• frische Minzeblätter

Zubereitung:

1. Das Backrohr auf 150 Grad vorheizen.
2. Das Eiweiß in einer sauberen Schüssel gut mixen. Wichtig ist, dass absolut keine Dotter-Reste unter dem Eiweiß sind!
3. Sobald das Eiweiß eine halbwegs feste Masse bildet und eine satte, weiße Farbe annimmt, den Zucker langsam hinzufügen und dabei immer weiter mixen. Sobald der ganze Zucker hinzugefügt ist, die Masse nochmals mindestens 5 Minuten mixen bis sie glänzt.
4. Nun die Maisstärke und den Essig hinzufügen und nochmals 2 Minuten mixen.
5. Die Masse in eine Kuchenform füllen und im Backrohr für 50-60 Minuten backen bis sie eine leicht goldene Farbe annimmt.
6. Wenn das Baiser fertig ist, das Backrohr abschalten und das Baiser im Rohr langsam auskühlen lassen.
7. Währenddessen das Schlagobers schlagen und die Früchte – wenn notwendig – in mundgerechte Stücke schneiden.
8. Wenn das Baiser auf Raumtemperatur abgekühlt ist, das Schlagobers vorsichtig und großzügig auf dem Baiser verteilen.
9. Die Früchte über das Schlagobers streuen und mit den Minzeblättern und dem Staubzucker garnieren.

 

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Serves: 4
Preparation time:1 h

This is Anna Pavlova. Anna was a Russian ballet dancer from the 1920s.

Anna toured two countries during her period of fame: Australia & New Zealand. There she really, really impressed people with her dancing skills. Her dancing must have been drop-dead beautiful. So beautiful, that both countries decided to honor her by creating a special dessert and name it after her. I don’t know about that Anna, but this Anna would be pretty psyched, having a dessert being named after her. But also this Anna here by far is no ballet dancer, so that might not be an excellent comparison.

Anyways, Anna Pavlovas‘ dancing not only arouse enthusiasm and admiration but also raised conflict between Australia and New Zealand. Both countries claim that they were the first to create the Pavlova dessert. Up until now they could not reach settlement or a reasonable compromise. Some of you might consider such a quarrel to be rather preposterous. To those of you I say: wait until you’ve tried a Pavlova…

 

For one pavlova, serving 4 people, you will need:

• 5 egg whites
• 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar/icing sugar
• 2 tbsp of cornstarch
• 1 tsp of white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
• fresh fruits (i used peaches, raspberries and apricots, but you can also, e.g., use kiwi, passion fruit, strawberries, red currant, bananas, etc.)
• fresh mint leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they get a white colour. Make sure that there is no (not even a tiny bit of) egg yolk in it!
3. Slowly and gradually add the icing sugar while whisking for at least 5 minutes until you get a glossy, thick and smooth texture.
4. Now add cornstarch and vinegar and whisk for another 2 minutes.
5. Gently fill a cake tin with your egg and sugar mixture and place it in the oven.

1. Now you bake it for 50–60 minutes until you get a nice golden colour.

1. When your meringue is done, you turn off the oven and let it rest in there until the oven has totally cooled off.
2. Meanwhile whisk the whipping cream.
3. When the meringue has cooled down to room temperature, you generously top it with whipped cream.
4. If necessary cut your fruits in bite-sized pieces and load them on top of the whole thing.
5. Decorate with mint leaves and icing sugar.
6. If possible, secretly eat the whole thing yourself – hiding in the kitchen. If not, share it with your guests.