Or, a dessert that helps you to hang on to summertime.
We have been realizing that Fall is coming. To be honest, I think we were always pretty firmly House Stark around here, but I can’t quite say that winter is here with a straight face yet. So. Fall is coming, with its new semester and its departmental dramas and its writing deadlines. But I’m not ready to think about that yet. So I’ve invested in some summery corn/basil/tomato salads and some if-I’m-eating-this-it-must-be-summer projects. Food-based denial. Or, food that keeps you anchored in the present! Let’s go with that.
I had one of the most amazing meals at Taco Maria a few months ago – one of those meals where you taste a really humble thing and it lights up your tastebuds. And it was brunch – not usually the place to find innovative cuisine. The chef did this whipped yogurt dish that was a revelation to me (whipped yogurt? yogurt as the starring ingredient?), and I’ve been trying to make versions of it at home ever since. Most recipes I’ve found basically whip cream and fold in a bit of yogurt, which for some reason strikes me as cheating. Especially because Taco Maria’s version really just tasted like a cloud of perfectly tangy yogurt, and not yogurt-adulterated cream. Who knows what kind of magical yogurtry those folks get up to. The recipe below is a kind of riff on my inability to make satisfactory whipped yogurt – I don’t even try to whip it. I just spooned good, non-set (European style) yogurt into the heart of the pavlova, where you would ordinarily find the whipped cream.
What results is really, really good. The smooth yogurt contrasts with the crisp meringue shell in just the right way, and its cool tang hits the marshmallowy center and cuts the sugar. Add a swirl of lemon curd and some berries, and I’m feeling both better about my whipped yogurt issues and about the fact that there may or may not be another season somewhere around the bend.
- 1 meringue base (or several smaller nests, if you like)
- about ½ to ¾ cup plain European-style (not set) yogurt
- 2 tablespoons lemon curd
- about a cup of mixed blueberries and blackberries
- Make a meringue base according to any pavlova recipe, or buy meringue nests from the store. I used a 3 egg white recipe, if that is of interest. Usually pavlova works best if you make the meringue the night before, bake it, then leave it to cool in the oven overnight. (I did not do that here, but the best/most reliable meringues I have made use this method.)
- Put the yogurt in a bowl, and roughly swirl in the lemon curd.
- When the meringue is completely cool, pour the lemony yogurt on top, and sprinkle with berries.