Light, Light and Light
Jenine Janet
Nymph, for a Balenciaga window in Paris, France.
1957
Statue encrusted with wheat fronds and leaves.
h. 140 cm
Private Collection
Spring, glorious Spring! The last few days in Austin, Texas have been nothing short of perfect. The nights and mornings are in the 50’s while the days hover around 75. The only way the world could possibly get better is by celebrating with a springtime dessert. I kept mulling over several recipe ideas that could stand up to my desire to share this limitless feeling that accompanies every blooming bud and rides on the crisp songs of the neighboring birds outside. But only one stood out from the others. Only one had the delicate power to enrapture all who partook in the eating of it. The perfect springtime dessert? None other than the Pavlova.
The Pavlova was invented in the 1920’s for the world famous Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, by a chef in Australia who wanted to make a dessert as delicate and light as the dancer herself. The dessert itself is an incredible meringue topped with seasonal fresh fruit and Chantilly cream. Fit for a ballerina indeed. To say the least, the dessert was well received and is now a staple in Australian and New Zealand cuisine.
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A couple of months after I found out that I was gluten intolerant, my twenty-second birthday (2001) was rolling around and I was desperately trying to figure out what my new birthday cake would look like. As I had done very little experimentation with traditional birthday cakes, I really didn’t know what I was going to do. A couple of days later, my brother in law, Clayton, called and asked if I had ever heard of a Pavlova. Of course I had no idea what he was talking about so he brought over a hand-written recipe on a yellow piece of legal paper. It was the first “real” dessert I had had since my diagnosis and let’s just say that after that first bite passed my lips, my love affair with desserts was reborn and I had one of the most glorious birthdays ever, because for that singular moment in time, I totally forgot that I had Celiac disease.
That’s when the thought struck me: Celiac disease is not about what you can no longer have, it’s about celebrating what you can have and working with it.
6 Large Egg Whites
1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar
1 ½ Teaspoons Mexican Vanilla
2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
1 Teaspoon White Vinegar
¼ Cup Boiling Water
2 Cups Heavy Cream
2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Almond or Vanilla Extract
1 Quart Fresh Fruit in Season
Preheat oven to 350°. On a piece of parchment paper cut to fit your cookie sheet, trace a 12” circle with a non-toxic pen.
In a large mixing bowl with the whisk attachment, begin beating the egg whites on high speed until they begin to froth and go from translucent to opaque and finally to a stark white. In ½ cup increments, add the sugar followed by the cornstarch and the vinegar. Continue to beat the mixture on high speed for at least 5 minutes. Bring the ¼ cup of water to a boil and pour into the egg whites all at once. The egg whites will swell up considerably as you are flash cooking them, so don’t be alarmed if they almost rise up over the edge of your mixing bowl. Keep on beating the egg whites until the water is totally incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary and add the Mexican vanilla. Continue to beat the mixture for 3-5 minutes more or until the egg whites have a pale copper color and an unmistakable opalescent sheen. With a flat rubber spatula, take a medium sized amount of the meringue and carefully fill in the traced circle. Continue this process until you have a big, beautiful, uniform circle.
This is what your Pavlova should look like just before it goes into the oven.
Bake at 350° for 10 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 200° and bake for 40 minutes more.
Allow to cool completely before you gently remove the parchment paper by rolling it out from under the Pavlova. Using a spatula will cause the meringue to tear, as it is very delicate.
Whip the heavy cream until it begins to hold its shape and add the granulated sugar and the vanilla or almond extracts. If you choose to use both, which I highly recommend, only use ½ a teaspoon for each the extracts.
After the Pavlova has cooled completely, carefully spread the Chantilly cream over the top of the meringue and finish by covering the cream with a fresh fruit of your choice. If you are using sliced peaches or nectarines, be sure to toss them in a bath of the juice of 1-2 lemons and a teaspoon of sugar to prevent them from browning.
Serves 6-8
Here, I topped my Pavlova with this beautiful assortment of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.
Vincent Van Gough (1853-1890)
Sunflowers, 1887
The Louvre Museum, Paris
