Pavlova with Lemon Curd

I’m super excited about this post! I’ve been wanting to make a pavlova for so long. I’ve seen these all over food magazines and IG and I think they just look so gorgeous. But before I began creating this recipe, I was curious to understand why sometimes it was called meringue and other times a pavlova. I discovered that a pavlova is a type of meringue, it has cornstarch and vinegar added whereas a normal meringue only consists of eggs and sugar. It was quite interesting digging into the history of a pavlova as it was created in honor of a Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, in 1926. The vinegar is added to help stabilize the egg whites while the addition of cornstarch is to help the egg whites from overcooking to maintain the internal fluffiness of the dish. The perfect pavlova will be crispy and crunchy outside, but fluffy and soft inside. I think this is why I love baking so much – my day job is in the health science realm and baking is basically science with food!

Before we start making the pavlova, I will warn you that it could be a bit tricky. It’s best to use a stand mixer, but a hand mixer will suffice. Use glass or stainless steel bowls when whipping up the egg whites; plastic bowls are porous and can retain oils. And every bowl and utensil needs to be absolutely clean and dry. Even the smallest trace of oils can deflate the egg whites and ruin everything. So wash and wash again to ensure all the tools you’re using are spotless and 100% dried.

So you’ve made the pavlova and after a few hours of sitting, it looks like it’s leaking. Sadly, this can happen sometimes. It happened to me a couple of times too. I panicked the first time; I wasn’t sure what was going on and in my brain I went, “OMG, did I not cook the eggs thoroughly? Will I get sick since I ate it? WILL I DIE?” The answer is no, Sandy, you’re overreacting. The liquid is just syrup from the pavlova and the reaction is called “weeping”. Something happened either (1) during the meringue whipping process and the sugar didn’t mix thoroughly, (2) it needed to be baked/dried out longer in the oven, or (3) there’s too much moisture in the air. YES, TOO MUCH MOISTURE WILL RUIN YOUR MERINGUE. Who knew? Fortunately, weeping pavlovas don’t taste differently. So if you notice the pavlova is sad and weeping (hehe), you can try to pop it back into the oven and dry it out a bit more. However, if you plan to just devour it… then do just that very quickly.

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that my desserts tend to be on the less sweet side. I don’t like overly sweet confections. Let’s also face it, a pavlova is 99% eggs and sugar. I needed to add another element to it that would tame the sugar down a tad. Enter my favorite dessert companion: lemons. From the egg yolks leftover from the meringue, I whipped up a lemon curd that was sandwiched between the pavlova and whipped cream. I love the tartness of the lemon curd and it pairs very nicely with the sweetness of the pavlova.

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