RICHMOND, Va. – State and county fairs are a popular this time of year, and Host Cheryl Miller got to enjoy a sweet preview with a berry good recipe. Mary Rapapport, from the Virginia Egg Council, made a return trip to our studio and shared her delicious pavlova recipe, and filled us in on how you can enter the 2018 Berry Delicious contest to win a blue ribbon this year at the state fair! Don’t miss the Chesterfield County Fair is underway until Saturday, September 1st and the 2018 State Fair of Virginia kicks off September 28th at the Meadow Event Park in Doswell. For more information you can visithttp://www.virginiaeggcouncil.org/events.cfm and https://www.statefairva.org/
Spectacular Pavlova
4 large egg whites
½ tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
¾ tsp. vanilla extract (use your best)
Preheat oven to 225°. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet.
In a small mixing bowl at high speed, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy.
Add sugar, two tablespoons at a time, beating constantly until sugar is dissolved (rub a bit between fingers to test) and whites are glossy and stand in stiff peaks. Fold in vanilla.
Draw a 9 – 10” circle on parchment. Spoon meringue into circle, spreading across center, but building a rim along the outside with the back of a spoon.
Bake about 1 – 1 ½ hrs. It’ll be light golden in color.
Turn off oven. Let stand in oven with door closed until cool, dry and crisp, at least 1 additional hour.
Store in airtight tin, if not eating right away. Serves 8
To serve:
Fill with 2 cups whipping cream, whipped, with ¼ cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla extract or Almond Cream Filling. Top with 2 – 4 cups cut up fruit (peaches, kiwi, mango, star fruit) or a mixture of berries. Dust with powdered sugar and present with sparklers on top for a wow factor! Serve with Crème Anglaise, if desired.
Almond Cream Filling
Combine 1/3 sugar, dash salt, 2T. flour in small pan. Combine ½ cup milk with 2 egg yolks and add to pan to make a paste. Add 1 ½ cups more milk and heat until it thickens and boils one min. Remove from heat. Add ½ tsp, each vanilla and almond extracts – cover with plastic and chill.
Rasberry Bread Pudding
Prepare your best bread pudding, using almond extract for flavoring. Before baking, fold in 1 – 2 cups
raspberries. Top with sliced almonds. Bake and serve with ice cream.
Blueberry Pound Cake
Prepare your best pound cake recipe. Before placing in baking pan, dust 2 cups blueberries with a bit of flour, then fold into batter along with 1 T. grated lemon peel. Bake as usual. Make a glaze for cake with powdered sugar and lemon juice and garnish cake with lemon slices and blueberries.
Cranberry Pecan Pie
Prepare your best recipe for pecan pie. Before pouring into pie plate, stir in 1 cup cranberries. Bake as usual. Serve with softly whipped cream.
Berry Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches
Prepare your favorite waffle recipe and just before grilling the waffles, fold in berries. Pour onto waffle iron, but make smaller waffles than usual – about half the size. Cook very crisply. Cut ice cream into ½” thick slabs and place in the center of two waffles.
