pavlova

I’m feeling the post-holiday blues. I can’t motivate myself to go to the gym. I don’t want to leave the house and face the cold. Now that I finally put the Christmas tree away, there is a sizeable vacant spot in my apartment. The cats loved to spend time on the tree skirt and when it was gone, they sat on the bare floor with a confused look wondering why their butts were so cold. In my heart, I know that this is just one step towards warmer weather and one month closer to Disney World/Universal. (I’m going in May! I’ve never been! I’m excited to wear the Minnie headband, eat a dole whip, take a photo in front of the castle, have all the butterbeer, and visit Hogwarts.) But that seems forever away. Bah humbug.
There is something about the bright hues of citruses that lifts the spirits. Are there any types of fruit that are more refreshing? I think it’s ironic that they are at their peak season when the weather is so cold. I crave citrus fruits the most in the summer when the weather is hot and humid. The sharp acidity and mellow sweetness is the perfect answer to beat the weather. But I can’t argue that they’re the juiciest during the winter and I wanted to make the most of it when I saw the recipe for a grapefruit mousse in a magazine.
The truth is whipped cream and any type of fruit will guarantee you a win and this recipe doesn’t disappoint. The lightly sweetened whipped cream goes well with the tart juiciness of the grapefruit. I love the contrast of the dark pink against the white.
As for the meringues, I took a cue from use real butter, and boiled down the grapefruit juice until it became syrupy. Then I brushed the syrup onto the baked meringues and let them sit in warm oven until completely dry. This way you get sparks of citrusy tartness with each bite of the sweet meringue. It’s delightful.
Looking back on the pictures makes my heart a little lighter. After all, how can we enjoy the warmth without having braved the cold? (Meh. In hindsight, I still think I could go without the cold, but I definitely appreciate it more after winter.)

Grapefruit Pavlova with Grapefruit Mousse
Makes about 6-8 mini pavlovas

For the Grapefruit Pavlova:

Ingredients:

300 g. superfine sugar
150 g. egg whites, room temperature
1 pinch cream of tartar
3 large grapefruit
1 tbsp. sugar
grapefruit mousse
mint, for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400˚F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread sugar in an even layer over parchment.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites and the cream of tartar.
Place sugar into the oven and bake until the edges of the sugar begins to melt but not brown, about 5 minutes.
Once the sugar begins to melt, turn the mixer onto high.
Remove baking sheet from the oven and the eggs whites should be foamy.
Turn the mixer to medium high and slowly pour the hot sugar from the parchment paper into egg whites.
Once all the sugar is added, turn the mixer onto high and mix until stiff, shiny peaks form.
Reduce oven to lowest setting 140˚F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. With a pencil, draw 4 inch circles on the parchment paper, leaving a 1 inch border on each side. Flip the parchment paper over. The circles will be your guide lines for the meringues.
Fit a medium open star piping tip into a piping bag and pipe little meringue cups starting from the center onto the edge of the circle. Once you get to the edge of the drawn circle, pipe one more layer of meringue on the outer edge, forming a bowl shape.
Once you piped all the meringues, take a spoon and make an indentation in the center of each circle, deepening the bow.
Bake the baking sheet with the 4-inch circles for 1- 1.5 hours until they are crisp and sound hollow when tapped.
While the meringue is baking, peel and section the grapefruit.
Reserve the sectioned grapefruit for the grapefruit mousse.
Squeeze the juice of the remaining grapefruit husk to get approximately 1 cup of grapefruit juice.
In a small pot on medium heat, simmer the grapefruit juice until about ¼ cup of the grapefruit juice remains. Set aside.
Remove the baked meringues from the oven and using a basting brush, brush specks of grapefruit concentrate all over the meringues making sure not to over saturate the meringues (as in, do not paint it too generously or you it will lose its crispness).
Place the meringues back into the oven.
Turn off the oven and let it dry out for about an hour until the grapefruit concentrate is dried onto the meringue.
If you are not yet ready to decorate the meringues, places the meringues into a zip lock bag until ready for use.
If you are ready to fill the meringues, use a medium or large disher to scoop out round mounds of the grapefruit mousse into the meringue cups.
Garnish with the smallest mint leaves if desired.

Grapefruit Mousse

Ingredients:

Sectioned grapefruit reserved from the grapefruit pavlova (above)
3 tbsp. turbinado sugar
1 c. cold heavy cream
1 tbsp. confectioner’s sugar
Instructions:

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Line the sectioned grapefruit on the parchment paper in rows.
Take a paper towel and dab the grapefruit to get rid of excess juices.
Sprinkle turbinado sugar on the grapefruit.
Take a kitchen torch and caramelize the sugar on each grapefruit section. (Alternatively, you can broil the grapefruit for 5 minutes in the oven.)
Whip the heavy cream and sugar together until you reach firm peaks.
Fold in the caramelized grapefruit.

Grapefruit meringue recipe adapted from Use Real Butter.
Grapefruit mousse recipe adapted from The Family Circle.

As much as I love flowers, I’ve learned over the years that I have a black thumb. No matter how hard I try or how “low-maintenance” the plant is, I manage to kill it. I’ve even killed a cactus. Don’t ask me how I did it. But one day it started to shrivel up and before I knew it, it was dead. These days, I run away from plants like the plague. The cute DIY terrariums that everyone talks about? Nope. Growing my own herbs? No way. So instead of growing my own plants, I prefer already cut plants because (not to sound morbid) they’re already dying. It gives me a little less stress.
In the food world, I think Valentine’s Day can be renamed as Red Velvet Everything Day. Is it just me or when February rolls around, everything is red velvet flavored? They come in forms of cake, brownies, whoopie pies, cupcakes and cookies. It is not their fault. There aren’t that many red cakes out there and that deep red hue is kind of perfect for the season.
Instead of doing the usual red velvet cake, I decided to make a red velvet pavlova. I dyed the layers of pavolva red (or as red as I could get them) and flavored them with a hint of cocoa. Then I made a cream cheese whipped cream (because how would you have anything red velvet without cream cheese) and flavored it with some rose water for a floral note. I finally decorated it with some tiny rose meringues and actual tiny roses. If you are using fresh flowers, make sure they’re pesticide-free and if you want to eat them, make sure they’re edible.
Red Velvet Rose Pavlova This may be the most romantic cake I’ve made. (Followed closely by this one.)

Red Velvet Rose Pavlova
Makes one 4-layered mini cake

Ingredients
300 g. superfine sugar
150 g. egg whites, room temperature
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
red gel food color
1 batch of cream cheese rose whipped cream (recipe below)
mini red roses, organic pesticide-free (for decoration)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400˚F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread sugar in an even layer over parchment.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites and the cream of tartar.
Place sugar into the oven and bake until the edges of the sugar begins to melt but not brown, about 5 minutes.
Once the sugar begins to melt, turn the mixer onto high.
Remove baking sheet from the oven and the eggs whites should be foamy.
Turn the mixer to medium high and slowly pour the hot sugar from the parchment paper into egg whites.
Once all the sugar is added, turn the mixer onto high and mix until stiff, shiny peaks form.
Reserve ¼ c. of white meringue batter in a different bowl.
Add cocoa powder and red gel food color to the rest of the batter and mix until desired color is reached.
Reserve ¼ c. of red meringue batter in a separate bowl.
Reduce oven to lowest setting 140˚F.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
On one baking sheet, spoon 4 five-inch circles of the red meringue.
Fit a medium closed star piping tip into a piping bag and add ¼ c. each of reserved white and red meringue batter.
On the second baking sheet, form small roses by making small circles with the piping tip.
Bake the baking sheet with the five-inch circles for 1- 2 hours until they are crisp and hollow.
Bake the baking sheet with the mini roses for 30 minutes to 1 hour until they are crisp and hollow.
Turn off oven and let it dry out for about 30 minutes to an hour.
When meringues are completely cool and dry, alternate a layer of the meringue with the layer of the whipped cream.
Decorate the top with the mini meringue roses and mini roses.

Cream Cheese Rose Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

1 ½ c. heavy whipping cream, cold
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
½ c. powdered sugar
½ – 1 tsp. rose water (be careful with the rose water, too much of it will make the frosting taste like soap)

Instructions:

In a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
Set aside the whipped cream mixture into a different bowl.
In the same bowl, add the cream cheese and powdered sugar and mix until light, fluffy and fully incorporated.
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
Add ½ tsp. rose water and taste. If you feel like it needs more, add ¼ tsp. at a time until desired flavor is reached.