Libby Klein I've followed Nigella Lawson since Nigella Bites. The mid nineties to early two thousands was the heyday for traditional cooking shows before they turned into competitions and Nigella was one of my favorites. I've tried to win that signed cookbook to no avail, and I make her carbonara recipe whenever we feel we need a special meal. I can't order it in a restaurant because half the time it comes as scrambled egg pasta and it's too easy to get it right on my own. Nigella has spoiled me.
When I saw this recipe for Lemon Pavlova I saved it in my must make folder for a special occasion. The special occasion that finally arrived was it's snowing and I've been sick so I want a treat. So here we are. This makes 8-12 slices and it doesn't keep fresh for very long so maybe wait until you have an event or dinner party to roll it out. You can make the merengue base a day ahead. This would make a perfect dessert for a spring event like Easter or Mother's Day.
Lemon Pavlova by Nigella Lawson
Yield 8-12
Ingredients
6 egg whites
375 grams of caster sugar (2 1/4 cup of fine granulated sugar)
2 1/2 teaspoons corn flour (corn starch)
2 unwaxed lemons (are lemons usually waxed?)
50 grams flaked almonds (1/2 cup sliced almonds)
300 milliliters double cream (1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream)
325 gram jar lemon curd (I personally like Tiptree but any kind you like will do)
Directions (I'm going to post these exactly as Nigella wrote them because they're kind of fabulous)
1.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C
Fan/gas mark 4/350°F and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Beat the egg
whites until satiny peaks form, then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time
until the meringue is stiff and shiny.
2.
Sprinkle the cornflour over the
meringue, then grate in the zest — a fine microplane is best for this — of 1
lemon and add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
3.
Gently fold until everything is
thoroughly mixed in. Mound onto the lined baking tray in a fat circle
approximately 23cm/10inches in diameter, smoothing the sides and the top with a
knife or spatula.
4.
Place in the oven, then immediately
turn the temperature down to 150°C/130°C Fan/gas mark 2/300°F, and cook for 1
hour.
5.
Remove from the oven and leave to
cool, but don’t leave it anywhere cold as this will make it crack too quickly.
If you think your kitchen is too cool, then leave the pavlova inside the oven
with the door completely open. When you’re ready to eat, turn the pavlova onto
a large flat plate or board with the underside uppermost — I do this before I
sit down to the meal in question and let it stand till pudding time. This is so
the tender marshmallow belly of the pav melds with the soft topping.
6.
Toast the flaked almonds, by frying
them in a dry pan over a medium to high heat until they have started to colour.
Shake the pan at regular intervals and don’t let them burn. This doesn’t take
more than a minute or so. When they’re done, remove to a cold plate so that
they don’t carry on cooking.
7.
Whip the cream until thick and airy
but still with a soft voluptuousness about it, and set it aside for a moment.
8.
Put the lemon curd into a bowl and
beat it with a wooden spoon or spatula to loosen it a little. Taste the lemon
curd (if it’s shop-bought) and add some lemon zest and a spritz of juice if
it’s too sweet.
9.
With a light hand, a glad heart and a
spatula, spread the lemon curd on top of the meringue base. Now top with the
whipped cream, peaking it rather as if it were a meringue topping. Sprinkle
with the zest of the remaining lemon — you can grate this finely or coarsely as
you wish — followed by the flaked almonds, and serve triumphantly.
Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.
Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.
After her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn’t in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she’s at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .
Who would want to kill a clown—and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem—herself included . . .
Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her
classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/
