It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. This weekend we made blueberry Pavlova‘s. My first attempt at a Pavlova and if you’re not familiar with it, it’s pretty much a meringue. Which means lots of egg whites and sugar. A crispy outer shell and a fluffy marshmallow centre, topped with home made blueberry jam.

Pavlova was named after the famous Russian Ballerina Anna Pavlova during her tour of New Zealand and Australia. Making a pavlova sounds like a daunting task but don’t be afraid to give it a go, it comes together with only a few ingredients and it just requires a little patience in the baking process.

It’s blueberry season here in New Jersey. So they are in abundance. When Erika and Matt were here earlier in the week, Erika made blueberry sorbet. It was quite yummy. She’s had fun experimenting with sorbet this summer with her dad’s ice cream machine. We’re always open to try one of her new concoctions.

The Pavlova recipe required minimal ingredients such as egg whites, sugar, vinegar, and corn starch. It was a great dessert for the Fourth of July week, just needed a dash of something red. After mixing the egg whites until nice and frothy, you add a shit load of sugar and the corn starch. A shit load measures out to be a cup and a half. You add it slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it’s all mixed in and forms, stiff peaks, then add the vinegar.

An acid is an important component when making meringue. The acid helps stabilize egg whites as they foam up. If you don’t have white vinegar, you can replace it with half that amount in cream of tartar instead.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a piping bag, squeeze out big dollops of meringue. I will admit mine were really big and I will definitely make them smaller next time. If you have any extra meringue, just plop little meringue kisses on the baking sheet. They will be a yummy treat also. Bake at 250°F for 1 hour. Halfway through baking be sure to rotate the pan(s) so that they bake evenly.

I use two different recipes. This recipe was for the blueberry jam, and this recipe is for the Pavlova. Instead of making one large Pavlova, I chose to make five smaller ones. Also, I added a little bit of blueberry purée to the jam. And if you want to add fresh blueberries on top as well. Just to warn you it’s a very sweet dessert, but who doesn’t like sweet? And if you make too many, you can always freeze them.