Addicted To Raspberry Sauce! And Pavlovas!

I love, love, love raspberry sauce!
It has to be the most yummiest thing! (well to me it is)
I could probably make a batch and simply drink it!
But since that's probably kinda weird, I'll just it drizzle it over a Pavlova.

So berries were on this crazy sale today at Henry's.
Strawberries and Blackberries = $.88 each four packs per customer only.
So along with that I also bought some more eggs and planed to make mini Pavlovas.
I was thinking it would be hard but I was way wrong it was really simple.

I did research before for a good recipe, I liked The Barefoot Contessa's recipe.
But since I was making individual Pavlovas I found another recipe and followed their cooking directions - 300°F. Bake for 50-60 minutes. (for whatever reason I can't seem to find the site I saw this recipe so I can't link it) But anyways this temperature and time seemed to work out just fine. Also, I ended up using some whipped topping I had left over. Scroll down to see pictures.
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Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved

Ingredients
* 4 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
* Pinch kosher salt
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoons cornstarch
* 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* Sweetened Whipped Cream, recipe follows
* 1/2 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
* 1/2 pint fresh blueberries
* 1/2 pint fresh raspberries
* Triple Raspberry Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees F.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan. Draw a 9-inch circle on the paper, using a 9-inch plate as a guide, then turn the paper over so the circle is on the reverse side. (This way you won't get a pencil mark on the meringue.)

Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on high speed until firm, about 1 minute. With the mixer still on high, slowly add the sugar and beat until it makes firm, shiny peaks, about 2 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, sift the cornstarch onto the beaten egg whites, add the vinegar and vanilla, and fold in lightly with a rubber spatula. Pile the meringue into the middle of the circle on the parchment paper and smooth it within the circle, making a rough disk. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven, keep the door closed, and allow the meringue to cool completely in the oven, about 1 hour. It will be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Invert the meringue disk onto a plate and spread the top completely with sweetened whipped cream. Combine the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries in a bowl and toss with about 1/2 cup of raspberry sauce, or enough to coat the berries lightly. Spoon the berries carefully into the middle of the Pavlova, leaving a border of cream and meringue. Serve immediately in large scoops with extra raspberry sauce.

Sweetened Whipped Cream:
* 1 cup cold heavy cream
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (you can also use a hand mixer). When it starts to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until firm. Don't overbeat! Yield: 1 cup
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Top 5 thoughts running through my mind as I made these:
1. Can I over whip?
2. What if they don't come off the silicone mat they are baking on?
3. Are they burning?
4. Are they cooked?
5. Why are they chewy?

Experiences learned:
1. Can I over whip?
Nope didn't seem to over whip, they came out perfect with shiny, stiff peaks!

2. What if they don't come off the silicone mat they are baking on?
This was a scary thing... As I plopped each one down with their gooey sticky sugary blob I totally thought these things are not coming off! So I did a test run, pulled 'em out of the oven, and they Popped right off! It was awesome. I even used foil, a light layer of cooking spray and flour for another batch and this worked fine too!

3. Are they burning?
I opened the oven and checked, said to myself "No, Rebecca they arn't burning!"

4. Are they cooked?
Pulled them outta the oven, pushed on one and the outter layer cracked.. Look done to me. Next batch in!

5. Why are they chewy?
I tried half of one and it came out really chewy, but not good chewy, It was hard to eat... But then later I tried the other half and much better... I came to the conclusion that they aren't great RIGHT outta the oven! Much better when cooled.

But check out this link for other tips:
Meringue Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Oh I almost forgot about the Raspberry sauce!

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tbsp. cornstarch

Place ingredients in a saucepan. Cook on medium until raspberries are broken down, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a cheese cloth to get rid seeds.
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I Love my Kitchen Aid Mixer. If you don't have one, your missing out!

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova. The dessert is believed to have been created to honor the dancer during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s.

 Raspberry Sauce! Straining out the seeds.

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