Cooking With Wine – Baked Fruit Pavlova

A new way of cooking with wine

Welcome to our blog series on cooking with wine in which we continue our culinary adventure with a recipe for Baked Fruit Pavlova. This dessert will definitely impress your guests. We love how the meringue is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside and there’s lots of options for the fruit.

Before we begin, there’s one thing that we find really handy and that’s to know a few things up front. First, how long will it take to prep, cook, set aside, refrigerate, etc. before it’s ready to eat? Second, how many people will it serve? Lastly, the grocery list.

Nice to know details

As a general rule, allow for:

• First day – 25 minutes preparation, 90 minutes baking, set aside overnight
• Second day – 45 minutes preparation, 25 minutes baking, set aside 45 minutes
• Serves 6 – 8 people

Grocery List

• Eggs (4)
• Cream of tartar (1/8 teaspoon)
• Granulated sugar (1 and 1/4 cups)
• Cornstarch (2 and 1/2 teaspoons)
• Finely ground sea salt (pinch)
• Pure vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
• Raspberry vinegar (1 tablespoon)
• Light bodied red wine (1/4 cup)
• Ground cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon)
• Kosher salt (pinch)
• Apricots (6)
• Fresh strawberries (3 cups)
• Edible flowers

Make the meringue (Pavlova shell)

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
• Cut parchment paper to 10 by 10 inches
• Draw an 8-inch circle in the middle of the paper
• Turn the paper over and place on a baking sheet
• Crack 4 eggs (whites only) into a mixing bowl
• Reserve egg yolks for another use
• Add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar to the mixing bowl
• Whisk at a high speed until foamy (1 minute)
• Into a small bowl, sift 1 cup granulated of granulated sugar, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of  cornstarch and a pinch of finely ground sea salt
• Turn the mixer on high speed and gradually add the dry ingredients
• Once the dry ingredients are completely mixed in, add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of raspberry vinegar
• Continue mixing until glossy, smooth, stiff peaks form (8 minutes during which you need to scrape down the bowl a few times)
• It’s ready when you rub a bit of meringue between your fingers and it feels smooth
• Spoon the meringue onto the parchment paper, spreading it to fill the circle
• Smooth the top and sides with the back of a spoon, making the centre slightly concave
• Bake until the meringue has puffed slightly and the surface is dry and lightly browned  (90 minutes, rotating after 45 minutes)
• Turn the oven off and let the meringue cool in the oven to room temperature (45 minutes or more)

Prepare the fruit topping

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Wash and dry the fruit
• Slice 6 apricots into wedges and discard the pits
• Quarter 3 cups of strawberries and discard greens
• Place 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry vinegar, 1/4 cup of red wine, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of salt into an 8 by 8 inch baking dish
• Stir until completely dissolved
• Add the apricots to the baking dish and stir to coat them
• Bake until tender, about 25 minutes
• Remove from the oven and set aside until cooled (45 minutes)
• Add the strawberries to the baking dish and gently stir to combine the fruit

Serving

• Carefully place the meringue on a cake plate
• Top with the fruit mixture
• Garnish with edible flowers and serve

Pairing

We recommend serving this delicious dessert with the remaining light bodied red wine. It’s always best to serve the same wine used during cooking. This helps to enhance both the flavours in the dish and also the wine.

Tips

• We like to make the meringue the night before and leave it in the oven overnight
• When mixing, if the meringue feels gritty between your fingers, more mixing is needed to dissolve it
• It’s fine to substitute the fruit in this recipe with rhubarb and raspberries or your favourite fruit combos
• You can  make a simple raspberry vinegar (see 3 options here
• We recommend using a light bodied Pinot Noir

We hope you enjoy this Cooking With Wine – Baked Fruit Pavlova