Strawberry Rhubarb Cardamom Pavlova.
Basically, you make the lightest, fluffiest meringue ever that has a squidgy center. Yeah squidgy is a thing. I might have made up the word, but it’s a real thing. It’s a texture that’s like a combination of cotton candy and marshmallows, and it’s what happens when you mix vinegar with sugar and egg whites. It’s amazing.
You make tangy rhubarb curd, which turns yellow when you add egg yolks (hence the food coloring).
You make whipped cream that’s not too sweet with just a hint of cardamom! I know it sounds weird, but just trust me. Cardamom and rhubarb are best friends. They love each other.
Hands down, one of the most flavorful desserts that I’ve ever tried.
It’s a pain to make. I’ll admit. I’ve made single and double layer pavlova, but I’ve never done the triple until this recipe. I said a little prayer, and then thanked God after the photos were taken that the whole thing didn’t melt away and slide onto my floor!
We’re at that point in the season where we can’t quite justify air conditioning yet, but it’s starting to get uncomfortably muggy in the house. My poor whipped cream was weeping for it’s home back in the fridge.
As I’m sitting here typing this, I’ve received 3 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and a Tornado Watch warning from my weather app, and lightning keeps flashing outside! As a California girl, nothing about this weird Texas weather says Spring to me.
This pavlova, with it’s seasonal fruits and light airy meringue, that says spring…not thunderstorms and raging pillars of clouds! To be fair, there are no raging pillars of clouds directly outside my house (I keep checking). The native Houstonians repeatedly tell me I don’t have to worry until they issue a tornado warning; much more serious than a tornado watch.
Before we moved, I asked Taylor if Houston ever had tornadoes, and he was like “No way, they only hit North Texas, we’re fine!” So I never thought about it again…that is until last spring when I was home alone, and I got the tornado watch alert! That time, there really were strange looking clouds outside. They appeared to all be rushing to one area and spinning around up in the sky. Well, my little California heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I packed up our cat, photo albums, and some water and drove to Jiffy Lube where my husband was calmly getting an oil change. We watched the clouds, they stopped spinning, and we went home, though in my mind I was only half convinced that we didn’t just narrowly escape death. All of my Texas friends thought I was hilarious for being scared of a little tornado watch.
AAAAND they just extended the Severe Thunderstorm warning for another hour!
AAAAND not even joking, the electricity just went out for 20 minutes!
Anyway, Back to the pavlova.
This is the tasty meringue
You bake it and you just except the fact that it’s going to crackle…a lot!
Put the first layer on your cake stand
Add whipped cream, rhubarb curd, and strawberries
And you just except the fact that the curd is gonna drip
Then you layer the next meringue onto your masterpiece.
Then you repeat the process two times more and EAT!!
If you haven’t had pavlova yet, you need to bump it up on your list of things to make next! It’s like angel food cake, only even more airy and light inside, with a hard crunchy shell outside! Heavenly…
Also, if you’re craving chocolate and pavlova, you need to try this Chocolate Pavlova I made a couple of years ago, when I lived in California, when spring meant orange blossoms, and beach trips, and the promise of summer…not thunderstorms and TORNADO WARNINGS!!!
Ok, I’ll stop whining. Houston really can be quite beautiful this time of year, and I’m blessed to be here right now.
- FOR THE PAVLOVA:
- 6 egg whites (room temperature is best)
- 1½ cups superfine sugar
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- FOR THE CARDAMOM WHIPPED CREAM:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- FOR THE RHUBARB CURD:
- 6 rhubarb stalks, leaves removed completely (they are toxic)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 3 egg yolks (room temperature is best)
- ¼ cup water
- 4 tbl cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 chunks
- ¼ tsp pink gel food coloring
- 4 cups strawberries, sliced
- FOR THE MERINGUE:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and trace three 5 inch circles onto the paper.
- Be sure that you flip the paper so that the lead circles are facing down and not able to touch the meringue.
- In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until satiny peaks form.
- Beat in one tablespoon of sugar at a time until it is all combined and the peaks are stiff and shiny.
- Add vanilla and vinegar and mix one final time to until combined.
- Carefully pour the meringue into the circles and form the layers, smoothing the sides and top with a spatula.
- Place in the oven and lower the temperature to 300 degrees.
- Cook 45-50 minutes
- When they're done the outsides will be crispy, but the insides will give when pressed. If they're not done, they will give too much and be more soupy than squidgy.
- Once they're done, don't take them out of the oven. Turn the oven off, but prop the door open a little and let them cool in the oven for an hour.
- FOR THE RHUBARB CURD:
- Cut up the rhubarb into one inch chunks, discarding any ends that are particularly woody. Add rhubarb to a bowl with ¼ cup of the sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Add rhubarb sugar mixture, to a medium saucepan with the water over low heat. Simmer until rhubarb has completely broken down and lost its shape. I like to use a potato masher to help it get to that point at the end.
- Let the rhubarb mixture cool for about 10 minutes. Puree in food processor until it is smooth. Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and strain puree until you get ½ cup of liquid out of the rhubarb. Use a whisk on the puree to speed the process along.
- Reserve the liquid and 2 tbl of the puree.
- mix together egg yolks and cornstarch over a double boiler. Continue mixing until cornstarch is fully incorporated and egg yolk mixture is warm. Add reserved rhubarb liquid and puree. Mix and heat until simmering. Let it continue to simmer for 5 minutes, mixing often.
- Add lemon juice and zest and combine.
- Off heat, add in butter, one cube at a time until fully combined. Add food coloring and mix thoroughly. Let cool before adding to pavlova.
- FOR THE CARDAMOM WHIPPED CREAM:
- Add all ingredients to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until cream forms stiff, but still soft peaks.
- ASSEMBLY (AKA the fun and terrifying part):
- Using a stiff turner spatula, carefully pry pavlova layers off of parchment paper.
- Add to cake stand or plate in this order.
- pavlova layer
- whipped cream
- generous drizzle of rhubarb curd
- strawberries
- REPEAT
- REPEAT
- EAT EAT EAT!
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Can you suggest a reasonably priced fine grain sugar?
C&H makes a good superfine sugar that’s not too expensive. You can also just process regular granulated sugar in a food processor for 5 minutes until it is fine!
This is so gorgeous! I’m a total sucker for rhubarb…and cardamom…and pavlovas! This dessert is like a Things I Love hat trick!
Thanks, Elizabeth!