fruit pavlova

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

You’ve all been there.  Admit it.  You know, when you get a little too excited about all the summer fruit and berries and the farmer’s market and buy waaaaayyyyyy more that you and a family of 45.762 can possibly eat before it turns to a slimy mess in your fridge?  Yep.  I wouldn’t know anything about that.

I jest.  Seriously, we went a little crazy between the Costco and the farmer’s market with our ambitions of smoothie making as part of our dreams of weight loss and my pants fitting again.  As a side note to that, I can’t quite recall if I updated you on that front and told you I wore a suit to work last week I hadn’t been able to wear since last year.  That, my friends, is what we call hopeful progress around these parts. Woot!

Any-hoo, I had an abundance of fruit and some leftover egg whites from a different recipe, so I decided a Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova was on the agenda.  And it has to be healthy and good for me because it has fruit, right?  Thanks for humoring me.  At least it’s high in fiber.

I’ve seen some summer fruit dessert pictures floating around the interwebs that look all pretty and fancy pants with fruit I imagine was painstakingly and perfectly arranged in organized patterns of beauty. Well, y’all know that just isn’t the way I roll.  I do not have the time or the patience for such shenanigans.  Don’t judge me.  I just made the meringue, whipped up some heavy cream to slap on top, and piled it high with the surplus of fruit hanging out in my fridge.  I put it in a deep dish pie plate in a rare moment of clarity, knowing that some of the fruit would roll off and would be better captured in the crevice around the edge than landing in an explosion on my hard tile floor.

I called that one right.  It happens every now and again.

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Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Ingredients

For the Meringue

• 4 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

For the Topping

• 2 peaches sliced
• 2 kiwi peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 or so cups mixed berries
• 1/2 cup fresh cherries pitted

For the Whipped Cream

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180
2. Add egg whites to bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment and whip on high for about 1 minute or until firm
3. While mixer is still running on high, slowly add sugar and continue whipping for another 2 minutes or until you see shiny peaks
4. Turn off mixer, sift in cornstarch, and fold in vanilla bean paste and vinegar
5. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
6. Turn out mixture onto parchment and spread into an even circular layer 9 - 10 inches wide
7. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes, then turn off oven and leave in there for another 1.5 hours, turn over to cool completely on a wire rack
8. Chill bowl and whisk attachment in freezer for 20 - 30 minutes
9. Transfer heavy whipping cream, whisk on high, add sugar and vanilla bean paste
10. Whip until stiff peaks form, 3 minutes or so - careful not to over whip or you will have butter!
11. Transfer meringue to a platter
12. Spread whipped cream over the top
13. Arrange fruit and berries on top