Recipes

Desserts: Fruit Desserts

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Mini Pavlovas

This dessert was created for Anna Pavlova, one of the world's best-known ballerinas, while she was performing in New Zealand.

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Dash salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups peeled and sliced mixed fruit, such as kiwi, strawberries, or peaches
• 1 1/2 cups pressurized whipped cream (or sweetened whipped cream)

Preparation:

1. Put the egg whites in a large bowl and let stand for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, cut a brown paper grocery bag so that you can use it to cover a thick cookie sheet. Use a pencil and ruler to draw eight, 3-inch circles on the paper.
2. Preheat the oven to 300°. Add the vanilla extract, cream of tartar, and salt to the egg whites. With an electric mixer, beat on medium speed till soft peaks form. Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until very stiff peaks form and the sugar is almost dissolved (about 7 minutes).
3. With a pastry tube (or using a spoon), pipe the meringue onto the circles on the paper, building up the sides to form 8 shells.
4. With a grownup helping:
5. Place the cookie sheet into the preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven. Let the shells dry in the oven, with the door closed, for 1 hour. Remove the shells from the paper.
6. In a medium bowl, toss the fruit slices to blend. With a large spoon, fill the cooled shells with the fresh fruit mixture. Add a dollop of whipped cream to each mini pavlova. Serve immediately.

Yield:
8 mini Pavlovas

Nutritional Information:
Per serving: 150 calories, 2 g protein, 30 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 8 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 35 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 15%.

© 2006 Elaine Magee