Elements » meringue

Strawberry and Raspberry Pavlova…Made Two Ways…As a Roulade Cake or a Parfait

Sheila — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:06:41 +0000

I want to start off by telling you that I’ve made pavlova three times in the past month. Kemal and I both adore it!!! You can make it with whatever kind of berries you want…strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries…or a mixture of two or more. Kemal and I love it with any kind of berry or berry mixture, but raspberry pavlova is our personal favorite.

Anyway, before I tell you how to make it, I want to tell you a little story about my adventures in making pavlova this summer.

The first time I made it, I made two mistakes. First, I used the wrong sized pan. This was a critical mistake because it made my roulade cake too thick so it didn’t bake properly. The second mistake I made the first time I made this was I set my oven at the wrong temperature. It was set way too low because I was using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. Oops!

I ended up being able to salvage the cake by cooking it longer and turning the oven temperature up. It tasted great, but I wasn’t able to roll the cake nor did it look very pretty. No matter…we all enjoyed it nonetheless.

The second time I made pavlova, I baked it too long so it broke apart as I was rolling it. Oopsie! But again, I salvaged it by crumbling the meringue cake and putting the pieces in the bottom of a parfait glass. Then I layered the parfait with raspberries, whipped cream, strawberry puree, and a strawberry on top. It all worked out fine and tasted great!!! (See the very last picture of this post.)

But the thing is, I wanted to make a roulade cake, and I still hadn’t succeeded. I figured the third time’s the charm, and I was determined to succeed. And I did!! YAY!!! Here’s a picture so you can see my pavlova roulade cake.

Anyway, after making pavlova three times this summer, I can tell you that I still haven’t had enough. It’s become my favorite dessert of all time!!! It’s absolutely divine!!! Try making a pavlova roulade cake or pavlova parfait and see for yourself.

Strawberry and Raspberry Pavlova…Made Two Ways…As a Roulade Cake or a Parfait

Adapted from: Antony Worrall Thompson and Achtung Baby!

Equipment needed: blender, electric mixer, large stainless steel bowl, and a 11 x 17 inch jelly roll pan

Here’s some pictures of Kemal rolling the roulade, and you’ll start rolling on the widest side of the cake, using the paper to help you. Here’s a picture of Kemal demonstrating this step.

Now that your roulade cake is partially rolled, let the parchment paper rest on the counter while you press down the top edge of the roulade cake like this:

Now you need to roll the roulade cake a little more, so grab the parchment paper and roll some more:

Then take the part of the parchment paper that’s covering the cake and pull it back on the counter. At this point, Kemal removed the tape that was connecting both pieces of parchment paper on the counter, and then he started rolling the cake some more

until it’s completely rolled.

When you’re done rolling, take the part of the parchment paper that’s covering the cake and pull it back. And now you’re done rolling! You can see our roulade cake had a few holes, but we put that side on the bottom so they didn’t show.

The next step is to transfer the roulade cake from the parchment paper on your counter to your serving dish. To do this, you need to hold the parchment paper on both sides, lift it up, and then slide the cake right off the paper onto the serving dish. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of Kemal doing this step, but Chef Antony Worrall Thompson demonstrates it in his video toward the end at the 7:45 mark.

Once the cake is on the serving dish, sprinkle it generously with powdered sugar. Here’s how mine looked:

Then decorate the top with some fresh fruit.

Then chill it. When you get ready to serve it, slice it, placing an individual slice on a serving plate. Then take a spoon and place some of the berry puree sauce onto the plate around the pavlova.

Or, you can drizzle some on top if you prefer.

How to make a pavlova parfait instead of a roulade cake:

Follow all the steps for baking the roulade cake except instead of baking it for 15 minutes, bake it for 25 minutes. This will make the meringue crunchier on the outside, and this is actually how I prefer my meringue…crunchy on the outside yet soft on the inside. But baking it this long makes it impossible to roll. That’s okay though because if you want to make a parfait instead of a roloude cake, you don’t need to roll it.
After the meringue is done baking, let it cool.
Then remove the crunchy meringue from the parchment paper. It’s going to crumble off and be in a lot of small pieces. That’s okay…that’s what you want.
Then press some of the meringue pieces of the cake in the bottom of a parfait glass.
Next, spread some jam on top of the crumbled meringue cake.
Now add whipped cream on top of that.
Then place some berries on top of the cream.
Use a spoon to drizzle some berry puree on top of the cream.
If you like, add a sliced berry on top.
Chill and enjoy!

Here’s a picture of my mixed raspberry/strawberry parfait. The raspberries are on the bottom, and it’s drizzled with a strawberry puree:

Doesn’t that look scrumptious!! It’s also easier to make than a roulade cake.

Whichever way you make your pavlova, enjoy every bite!

Queen Cake

Sheila — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:19:04 +0000

I wanted to make a very special cake for my very special friend, Vesna. It’s her birthday today (March 16th), and I made her favorite cake, which is called Queen Cake, in honor of her birthday. It’s a meringue cake, but it’s quite different from any meringue cake I’ve ever had. The pastry part of the cake is a meringue base that’s been dried out in the oven. It’s very crunchy, and that crunchy texture makes a nice contrast with the cream layers. The result is a dessert that’s divinely delicious!! Here’s a picture Kemal took of the cake after Vesna cut it for us:

Vesna loves how when she bites into the cake there’s a crunch, followed by a dissolving of the meringue on her tongue, and then a creamy, dreamy yumminess!!! When she told me how much she loves this cake, I knew I had to make it for her. Well, all I can say is that it’s a good thing I started making this cake early (around 11 p.m.) because I ended up having to throw away the first meringue cake and start over. Here’s what happened.

When Vesna told me how to make the cake several weeks ago, I was kind of sleepy while I was taking notes. I accidentally wrote down 8 eggs instead of 4. Oops!! That’s a big difference. So anyway, last night I made this cake with 8 egg whites and poured all it into one large Springform pan. Big mistake!!!! It was way too many eggs, and my meringue base turned out to be huge. It was too big to dry out in the center, so the outside was perfect while the inside was still wet.

Well, lucky for me I still had time to try again. So Kemal and I nibbled on the crunchy part of the meringue and then threw the rest of it away. I started over, and this time I used less eggs. I also decided to have two layers of crunchy meringue, so I divided my meringue into two pans. Well, I got that right, but I forgot to process my sugar in the blender to make it super-fine in texture. It didn’t ruin my meringue base, but it wasn’t perfect the way I wanted. I wanted the meringue to totally dissolve on the tongue, but it was just a little stickier than I would have liked. That wasn’t such a big deal though.

A bigger deal is that when I made my creams, I didn’t add the milk gradually like I was supposed to, and I ended up with lumps. It took me an hour to try to get all the lumps out. And all night I was dropping everything and making a huge mess. I normally clean up all my messes, and while I did clean up after the first cake flopped, I eventually got so sleepy (around 4 or 4:30 a.m.) that I couldn’t stand up anymore. I dropped everything, cleaned my hands, and collapsed on the sofa. I left everything. I woke up in the morning to a sparkling, clean kitchen. Kemal put everything away, cleaned everything up, and put me to bed…something I don’t even remember. In the morning, I finished the cake in time to get it to Vesna for her birthday.

The good news is that the cake tasted pretty good. We all enjoyed it for breakfast with a cup of coffee. Here’s a picture Kemal took of Vesna getting ready to enjoy hers:

I can’t wait to make it again because I learned from my mistakes. But for now, I get to have fun using all my egg yolks. Time to go make some homemade ice cream and egg noodles.

Queen Cake (Adapted from Vesna’s recipe)

Ingredients for Meringue Cake:

4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
1 cups sugar

Ingredients for the vanilla and chocolate cream:

7 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1 pkg. vanilla sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup chocolate chips

Ingredients for the whipped cream topping:

4 pkgs. Dream Whip
4 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups milk
Optional: 2 oz. grated bittersweet chocolate for garnishing the top of the cake

Note: Vesna makes her whipped cream topping more dense by using less milk. I think it’s better with less milk, but silly me, I forgot and used more milk. So if you want your whipped cream fluffier, use two cups of milk. If you want it to be more dense, use 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups.

Instructions for making the meringue cake:

Put the sugar in a blender and press the “processor” button. If you don’t have a processor button, just press puree. You only need to process the sugar for about 1-2 minutes. This will make the sugar become very fine, airy, and powdery, and when your sugar is very fine like this, it will make for a much better meringue.
Set the sugar aside when it’s done.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Now you want to get your baking pan(s) ready.

Note: Before you prepare your pans, you need to decide how many layers of meringue you want. If you want two layers of meringue (that’s how I made mine), you’ll need to line two 8-inch Springform pans with parchment paper. If you want only one layer of meringue, then you’ll need to use one less egg for the cake, and then line one 10-inch pan with parchment paper.

The meringue is very sticky, and if you just cut a circular shape from the parchment paper so it fits in the bottom of the pan(s), it will keep the meringue cake from sticking to the bottom.

Separate the eggs, putting the yolks in the refrigerator for later use.
Leave the egg whites on the counter for about 30 minutes, letting them come to room temperature.
Place your two sticks on butter on the counter top also so it can get soft. You’ll be using the butter later when you make the creams.
With an electric mixer, beat the eggs on high speed in a large stainless steel or glass bowl for about 3 minutes until the eggs start to get foamy. Don’t use a plastic bowl; they don’t work as well.
Add the sugar to the eggs a little at a time, beating continuously on high speed until all the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are glossy and have peaks that stand straight up. To test your egg whites to see if they’re done, take put some egg whites in a spoon. Turn the spoon upside down. The egg whites shouldn’t drip or fall. They should stay on the spoon. If they stay on the spoon, then your egg whites have been beaten enough.
Pour the meringue into your lined baking pan(s), and then put your pan(s) in the oven.
Reduce the heat to 250 degrees and bake until the meringue totally dries out and browns some. That will take about 2 hours or so. I was baking late at night and I was kind of sleepy when I pulled the merginue cake out of the oven and forgot to check to see what time I finished. You can check it after about 1 hour if you like, but I don’t think it will be browned enough. It all depends on how hot your oven runs. I think mine took a little over 2 hours. Just make sure you don’t open the oven door during the first 30 minutes of baking.
When the meringue cake is done, it will be browned and totally dried out on the inside and outside. It will be a crunchy cake base.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool about 10 minutes or so.
Then you can remove the outside of the Springform pan.

Instructions for making vanilla and chocolate cream:

Beat the egg yolks.
Measure out 1/2 cup milk and set it aside.
Add the 7 tbsp. flour to the yolks, and beat it with a fork until there are no lumps. Add a little milk to the egg/flour mixture, beating it with a fork until there are no lumps. Then add a little more of the 1/2 cup of milk that’s left, beating well. Continue until you’ve added all of the 1/2 cup of milk to the flour, beating it by hand until there are no lumps.
Put 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla sugar in a sauce pan and heat it on med. well heat until it boils, stirring constantly.
After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and then add the egg yolk/flour/milk mixture that you just whisked together, stirring it in with the warm milk/sugar very quickly.
Keep stirring it on low heat until it has the consistency of a pudding.
Transfer half of the vanilla cream to a medium-sized glass or stainless steel bowl and refrigerate it.
Add the chocolate chips to the remaining vanilla cream that’s still in your sauce pan, stirring constantly and melting over low heat.
After the chocolate chips have melted and have been incorporated into the cream, transfer it to a medium-sized glass or stainless steel bowl and refrigerate it.
When the vanilla and chocolate creams have cooled down, remove the bowls from the refrigerator.
Add one stick of the softened butter to the vanilla cream. Beat the butter into the cream with an electric mixer until the butter is incorporated into the vanilla cream.
Now clean your beaters.
Add the other stick of softened butter to the chocolate cream. Beat the butter into the cream with an electric mixer until the butter is incorporated into the chocolate cream.

Instructions for making the whipped cream topping:

Mix together in a large bowl the 4 packages of Dream Whip, 10 tsp. vanilla, and 1 3/4 cups milk.
Beat with an electric beater until the whipped cream is thick and fluffy.
Refrigerate the whipped cream topping while you’re assembling your cake.

Assembling your cake:

Put your meringue cake on your serving dish (or you can leave it on the bottom of your Springform pan).
Spread the vanilla cream on top of the meringue base.
Now refrigerate until the vanilla cream hardens some.
Then spread the chocolate cream on top of the vanilla cream.
If you’re making two layers of meringue like I did, then you’ll take your other meringue base and place it on top of the chocolate cream.
Now you will spread the whipped cream topping all around the sides and top.

Note: If you’re using just one layer of meringue, the whipped topping will be spread on top of the chocolate cream and around the sides. If you’re using two layers of meringue like I did, you’ll spread the whipped topping over the second layer of meringue and around the sides.

If you would like to garnish the outside of your cake, just grate some bittersweet chocolate and then sprinkle it over the outside of the cake.
Refrigerate about 1 hour so it can harden up some.

Irish Cream Meringue Cookies

Sheila — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:40:40 +0000

Kemal and I love meringue cookies, and I made them for the first time last night. What’s funny is I always thought these cookies would be harder to make than regular cookies, and since I suck at making regular cookies, I was surprised that my meringue cookies turned out perfectly! I’m so happy I finally had cookie success! YAY!!!

I’m looking forward to making them vanilla flavored, espresso flavored, and I might even try some lemon flavored ones as well.

Irish Cream Meringue Cookies (Adapted from: www.thekitchn.com)

If you want to serve them to guests, put them in pretty glass parfait dishes on your coffee table when you’re enjoying coffee after dinner. I doubt they’ll last long.

Sampita

Sheila — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:48:12 +0000

Sampita (pronounced sham-pee-tah) is a popular cake in Yugoslavian cuisine. Kemal said his mother used to make it, and it was his favorite cake. He hasn’t had it since he came to the United States so I wanted to make it for him. It was easy to make and it certainly is delicious.

I will pass along the recipe to you, but please do keep in mind that this Yugoslavian cake is made with raw egg whites.

Disclaimer: There is a risk of Salmonella food poisoning when consuming raw eggs or undercooked eggs, and that risk may be higher in children, the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, or nursing mothers. If you are concerned about using raw egg products because of the risk of Salmonella poisoning, please do not prepare this cake (or any other recipe) with raw eggs. You can use meringue powder or dried egg white powder instead.

Sampita (Recipe Source: Coolinarika.com)

Cake Ingredients:

10 egg yolks
10 tbsp. sugar
1 pkg. vanilla sugar (If you don’t have vanilla sugar, just add a tbsp. of vanilla and an extra tbsp. of sugar)
5 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
8 tbsp. flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Cream Ingredients:

10 egg whites (to avoid any risk of Salmonella food poisoning, you can use meringue powder or dried egg white powder)
pinch of salt
4 cups sugar
1 pkg. vanilla sugar (you can substitute with a tbsp. of vanilla if you don’t have vanilla sugar on hand)
water (small amount)

Step One: Making the Cake:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Separate your eggs, putting your egg yolks in a large mixing bowl.
Put your egg whites aside in a glass or stainless steel bowl and let them come to room temperature for about 20 minutes (the egg whites will foam higher if they’re not extremely cold)
With an electric mixer, mix the egg yolks and both sugars together.
Add the milk and oil to the egg yolks and sugar, mixing together on a very low speed.
Mix the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.
Add the flour and baking powder, one spoon at a time to the eggs/sugar/milk/oil mixture, mixing on a slow speed.
Oil and flour your baking pan. I used a 10-inch springform pan.
Pour the batter in your springform pan and bake it until it’s golden brown.

Step Two: Making the Cream Topping

Beat the egg whites, along with the pinch of salt, until the egg whites are firm.
When that’s done, set your egg whites aside and make a syrupy mixture (sugar and water) that you’ll add to the egg whites. If you have someone to help you, you can beat the egg whites while your assistant makes the syrupy mixture.
Put in a small sauce pan the 4 cups of sugar and a little water…barely enough to cover the sugar. Cook that until the sugar dissolves (about 5-6 minutes). It should the consistency of syrup when it’s warm.
Take your hot sugar/water mixture that you just made and slowly pour a little of it in your beaten egg whites.
Beat the egg whites and sugar water.
While you’re continuing to beat the mixture, add more of the syrupy mixture to the egg whites, beating constantly. If you have someone to help you, you can ask your assistant to the pour the syrupy mixture into the egg whites while you beat.
After you’ve added all the sugar/water mixture to the egg whites, keep beating the egg white cream until it becomes cooler…closer to room temperature.
You will know you’re done beating when you can take a spoon of the egg white cream, turn it upside down, and it doesn’t fall off the spoon or drip off the spoon.
When the cream is done, pour it over the cooled cake and spread it out evenly over the cake.
Refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours. The cake will be very moist.
Optional Step: You can decorate the top of the cake with sugar sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, or cinnamon. We decorated the top of ours with a European drinking chocolate…Moroccan Spice.

Here’s a picture of the cake we made after it sat in the refrigerator for about 13 hours. Note: The recipe will make two cakes like this. We actually cut the recipe above in half because we only need a small cake for the two of us. This cake is actually way too big for the two of us. I have no idea how we’re going to eat it all! I think we will try to freeze part of it so we can enjoy the rest of the cake in a week or two.

As far as texture is concerned, it’s a light and airy cake that very moist. It’s sweet, but I don’t find it heavy on my stomach. Of course, I didn’t eat a lot of it at once. Now that’s not to say I didn’t want to…I had to resist the temptation to eat too much of it. It’s very delicious, and I’m certainly looking forward to making it again.