Strawberries

Part of me said to write about something a little less predictable than strawberries this week. But a bigger part thinks that at a time when those glorious, plump red berries are at their peak, you, like me, want new ideas for how to eat them.

I'm pretty certain there is no other produce item that Ontarians anticipate more than the strawberry. All of us have great memories around them, be they from strawberry socials, jam-making with grandma or shortcake on the back deck.

When I was in my early-20s, I helped run a summer daycamp for four to seven-year-olds and I'll always remember our berry picking outing. It was one of those perfect July days and each tyke was given a styrofoam cup to fill with their pickings. I am not sure any berries ever made it into the cups, though, so busy were these kids stuffing the warm, sun-soaked fruit into their mouths. 

Each one of them boarded the bus for home freckled from the sun, blissfully stuffed, covered in red stains (even on their bums, from having plunked down for a rest in the patch) and totally tuckered out. The bus smelled like a candy factory.

Every year I plan to slather on the sunscreen and go strawberry picking. Without fail, though, I instead end up dashing into my favourite berry farm on the fly to buy a pre-picked flat or two. I'm not sure this will be my year to hit the fields, either, because, at eight months pregnant, I can barely tie my shoes. But there's always next year. Having a ten-month-old in tow will no doubt add a whole new dimension to the experience. And present a prime new opportunity to create memories.

So now for that recipe. Well, pavlova's nothing new, but it's the perfect way to showcase fresh berries and a change from the ubiquitous shortcake. I hosted a baby shower for a friend last week and thought this would be the perfect way to end the meal. This cake is meant to feed 12 but six of us (half of whom were preggers) easily ate the whole thing. C'mon, it's pretty light.

This is a combination of one recipe I found in Bon Appetit magazine and another from The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook -- with a few tweaks of my own. 

The Bon Appetit recipe actually included a tablespoon of crushed pink peppercorns in their meringue, stirred in just before baking. This gives your meringue a lovely floral flavour. I planned to try this but discovered that the pink peppercorns in my cupboard were bordering on moldy (this at 9 p.m.) so I had to forgo them but I encourage you to give it a whirl. For a unique twist, you could also use basil in place of mint for the syrup. 

I recommend splurging on the vanilla bean because it gives unparalleled flavour. The rest of the ingredients here aren't going to set you back too much so it's easier to justify. 

Pavlova with Strawberries, Vanilla Cream and Mint Syrup

Meringue:

6 egg whites

1 cup sugar, divided

1-1/2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp white wine vinegar

Vanilla Cream:

1 cup chilled whipping cream

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered or sliced

Mint Syrup:

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup packed, fresh mint leaves

2 tbsp water

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a nine-inch round cake pan as a guide, mark circle on paper and turn over. 

Position rack in centre of oven and preheat to 275F. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Add 3/4 cup sugar, beating to medium firm peaks. Mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar with cornstarch and gradually beat in. Continue beating until very stiff. Stir in white wine vinegar. 

Spoon mixture onto prepared circle. Form into a nest shape with a hollow about 12 cm wide and sides about 3 cm higher than hollow. Bake for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours. Turn off oven and let cool in oven until completely dry (about an hour). Slide onto serving plate.

Whip cream with sugar. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Spoon into meringue nest, leaving the raised side bare. Arrange berries on top of cream. 

For the syrup, blanch mint leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds and squeeze dry. Puree with corn syrup and water, then cover and chill at least two hours to allow the flavours to develop. Bring to room temperature and strain through sieve. Drizzle the syrup over the whole pavlova or, better yet, on and around each piece after you plate it. Garnish with more mint leaves, if you like.