Recipe: Strawberry Pavlova with Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream

Valentine’s Recipe: Strawberry Pavlova with Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream

There exists a dessert named after a tutu and somehow it escaped me.

The Pavlova — an airy puff of meringue filled with whipped cream and berries — was created by a chef in Australia in honor of a visit from ballerina Anna Pavlova.

It’s gorgeous.

It’s also as fussy as the worst prima ballerina that ever danced across the stage. I made SEVEN, in one week, trying to get the meringue to obey.

The key, if there is one, is to have your egg whites at room temperature and to use fine baker’s sugar or caster sugar. This recipe is the one that finally worked for me. For the whipped cream, I use 1 1/2 cups cream, whipped with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla. Right at the end, whip in 3 Tablespoons creme fraiche. It’s as good as whipped cream gets, I promise.

Toss one pint of sliced strawberries with 2 Tablespoons of sugar about 30 minutes before spooning on top of the pavlova. Serve immediately.

By |2012-02-22T07:47:35-07:00February 22nd, 2012|Recipes|2 Comments

Valentine scenes from my house

V-Day: I’m into it.

I believe in heart-shaped dinner plates and leaving presents from Cupid on the doorstep. I send Valentines in the mail and make ridiculous desserts.

I love Love.

What the holiday has looked like at my house, thus far:

Eat-your-heart-out-fudge.

Vintage peek-a-boo glasses that won my heart from across the store. My heart rate actually quickened. (Thanks for the shopping trip, Christina and Sarah.

Tulips in a vintage mercury glass ice bucket.

Pink-striped candy ribbons from Hammond’s. They’re cherry-flavored and delicious and feel like the kind of glories my Mom might have bought as a girl at the St. Johns drugstore soda fountain.

Lazy cake.

A topiary turned hostess gift — found at Trader Joe’s, dressed up with burlap.

Tulips at Puddinn’s house.

Vintage his and hers statues from Found. I like his outfit better.

My paper straw collection is getting a bit insane. Heart-dotted versions from the Alt hotel sweet shop, also at Crate & Barrel.

Australian Licorice in a candy dish for Mark and Angela’s visit. (We’re all so obsessed that last summer, in Lake Tahoe, we had a licorice tasting.)

I love to watch people’s faces when they look at sparklers. Everyone grins. I’m putting these mini hearts on V-Day dessert. (From Kitty at the Scottsdale Quarter)

The Valentines my nephew made for his kindergarten class:

(And I love my sister, for teaching her little boy about celebrating l’amour with homemade things.)

 

By |2012-02-22T07:44:16-07:00February 22nd, 2012|Parties|3 Comments

My homemade Valentines

The Rose family niece and nephew count is up to 10 (!), and number 11 is on his happy little way in three weeks.

I spied some red polka dot treat sacks at Target and decided to use them instead of hoarding them. Enter Martha Stewart’s craft punch and some happy pink M & Ms: easy, quick Valentines for the little Roses that I love.

(I couldn’t resist those Valentines for journalists, and decided to steal that “on the record” tagline.)

See below: one more post today.

By |2011-02-15T14:40:41-07:00February 15th, 2011|DIY + Projects|0 Comments

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