Sheep and a strawberry pavlova

Today was a good day. After a really nice dinner of sautéed breaded chicken, roasted garlic potatoes, and crispy asparagus, we (we being four people) sat down to dessert. A rather quick dessert. A three minute dessert to be precise. For after the three minute mark, our dessert was gone. Like, totally gone. Like, an entire cake, gone. An entire pavlova in three minutes. What did we do afterwards? Oh, no big deal, just went sheep hunting. As in on a hunt to find sheep. Not hunting FOR sheep. You know what? This would make so much more sense in pictures. Let me show you.

I would like to showcase some artsy sheep photos.

UGG prodigies

hi i'm friendly and photogenic

So you're looking for a recipe, right? A pavlova recipe? You don't want to see more sheep things? Ok here you go :)

Makes one 10-12 inch cake.

For the meringue:

1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 (large) egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

1 pint whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 1/2 pints fresh strawberries, washed, de-stemmed, and quartered

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Using a pencil, draw the outline of a 10 inch cake pan on parchment paper. Flip the paper over and place on a cookie tray. Set aside. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup of the sugar and the cornstarch until cornstarch is mixed in.

In a larger bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add in salt and cream of tartar. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form. In small additions, beat in the plain sugar until all mixed, then add the cornstarch/sugar mixture. Last, beat in the vanilla extract and continue to beat until hard peaks form (about the consistency of a soft whipped cream).

Pour the mixture onto the parchment paper and, using the back of a large spoon, push the meringue so it spreads out to the 10 inches you outlined with the cake pan. Using the spoon, create a large well in the center of the meringue. The center should be about 1/2 inch tall and the outside should be about 1 1/2 inches. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Allow to fully cool.

team pavlova

While the meringue is baking, whip up the topping! Combine all ingredients (minus the strawberries) in a large bowl and whip until a hard whipped-cream consistency is reached. Spread over the meringue once ready and top with strawberries. Voila!

Sheeeeeep.