#11 Honeyed Peach Pavlova (+yogurt whip)

Peaches! Pavlova! Protein? Recipe(s) inside...

Honestly, I haven’t been baking much this July. It’s too hot lol. It’s bonkers that people post their beautiful gorgeous sexy bakes once a week, sometimes it’s like 2-4 times a week. Uhhh I hate instagram & putting myself out there, so I can’t. I’m trying to get over it as social media & exposure is now every creative’s part-time full-time job, and I’m trying to take my creativity more seriously!

To seek out the answers to my prayers and questions, I’m taking a *creative business course*. Sadly, it’s not helping me feel very creative. If anything, it’s got me stuck in an existential loop. What pain points am I trying to solve? What is my offering & do people value that? What is my business even? It’s hard to think about where I stand personally and answer from my heart. It’s harder to separate my ego from my business values and act upon the bigger picture. I just want to hide away my ideas and never grow…but that’s not what my coach would want.

Anyways, happy peach season! I love peaches. They are in my top 5 fruits. I thought about all the ways I could make an easy recipe with peaches. But it doesn’t get much easier than ripping into a juicy, ripe peach over the sink with your hands, but that would not be worthy of reading about.

So instead I made a peach compote and placed them on a pavlova with a tangy, creamy yogurt whipped cream!

Yogurt whip

Lately TikTok is pushing a protein agenda on me. I guess I’m not opposed to increasing my protein intake, and wow non-fat Greek yogurt is on sale. But actually it’s so sour and lean, and I miss my sugary 9% milk fat coconut yogurt. Maybe I’ll finish the whole tub if I make something with it… is what I was thinking when I came up with this.

You’ll need: hand mixer, mixing bowl, spatula

• 100g of whipped cream (about 90g heavy cream, 15-20g of powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla, pinch of salt)

• 100g of non-fat Greek yogurt

You can really eyeball this, but you want 1:1 ratio of whipped cream and yogurt.

1. Whipped cream: I had whipped cream leftover from July’s Extra Slice treat (which is still ongoing!), so it was all ready to go. I gave it a re-whip, just to get it to stiff peaks. If you’re starting from scratch: pour all the heavy cream into a mixing bowl along with the sugar. Then beat with a hand mixer until soft peaks. Add the splash of vanilla. Then beat until stiff peaks.

2. Once your cream is whipped, add the yogurt. Beat until combined. It takes like 10 seconds to combine.

3. Then keep cool until ready to use. Depending on how long you let it sit, it will need a rewhip before use.

Yogurt + whip = yogurt whip

It’s like crème fraîche whipped cream’s poor Canadian cousin but like in a good way because this cousin is smart with their money but still tastes good.

Honeyed peaches

This is a easy peach compote flavored with orange blossom and honey. I used my fancy pants honey from the farmer’s market (Clover Roads Organic Farm has the best honey), so I know “honeyed” is the right word here.

You’ll need: saucepan, spoon, fruit knife

• 200g peaches (about 2-3 small-medium peaches)

• 100g sugar

• 1/2 tsp orange blossom water

• 1 tablespoon of fragrant honey (measure with your heart)

• a squeeze of lemon (less than 1/4 of a lemon)

1. Remove pits, cut and slice the peaches however you’d like. Place into the saucepan.

2. Add the sugar, give it a mix, and let it macerate for 15-30 minutes. The sugar will turn from chunky crystals to a wet but sticky goop.

3. Cook on medium until the sugar dissolves and it starts to bubble. Let it bubble for about 5 minutes or until the syrup is viscous and fragrant.

4. Remove from heat. Add the orange blossom water, honey, and lemon juice, and give it a mix.

5. Pour into a container, and let cool.

Pavlova

The perfect pavlova is crispy and light with a fluffy, marshmallow inside (that I can only describe as wet and eggy). Biting in a pavlova is peak asmr. But besides the crunchy, biscuit-y exterior, I don’t love pavlova as it’s often very sweet. But it looks great, and it’s an awesome sugar vessel for delicious flavors like peaches.
Ty to Claire Saffitz’s pavlova recipe in her book Dessert Person (the youtube video isn’t as infromative).

Makes 4 “mini” but shareable pavlovas but you can half the recipe for 2.

You’ll need: stand mixer prob a hand mixer is fine altho Saffitz’s book says otherwise

• 200g egg whites (room temp is better)

• 180g white sugar

• 100g powder sugar

• pinch of salt (about an 1/8 tsp or less)

• pinch of cream of tartar (about an 1/8 tsp)

• splash of vanilla

1. Pour egg whites into a mixer bowl along with cream of tartar.

   1. bowl and utensils need to be clean and dry without any residue esp oil or else you’re basically screwed.

2. Whip on low until frothy. Then gradually add sugar. I pour in a bit of sugar, and let it mix in before streaming in some more. Do this until all the sugar has been added.

   1. The point is that you let the sugar dissolve evenly to stabilize the meringue, which is the whole road to success for pavlova. Also, the meringue will weep if the sugar isn’t dissolved all the way.

3. After all the sugar is in, add the salt and vanilla. Then increase the speed to high until meringue reaches glossy, stiff peaks.

   1. While the mixer is going, I’ll also measure out the powder sugar in the same bowl the white sugar was in, organize/clean up the area, and pre-heat the oven to 200F. At the same time, you don’t want to forget about it, go too far, and overwork the meringue.

4. Once you reach stiff peaks, stop the mixer, and add all the confectioner’s sugar. Then let the mixer go on low until all incorporated. Then bring it up to high for a minute to fluff the meringue back up.

5. Spoon out the meringue into 4 equal mounds. Use a spoon to shape each mound in a soft, swooshy shape. Give each one lots of definition! They lose their shape after being baked.

   1. I used a piping bag for one of them, and I don’t think it’s worth it.

6. Bake for 2-2.5 hours.

   1. When it’s humid, 2.5 hours won’t be enough. You can tell they’re done when they look dull, sound hollow, and are slightly tan/pink.

7. Take out to cool completely before removing them off the parchment. They’re delicate!

L: prebake R: postbake

They keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container (room temp), depending on how humid it is. I’d plastic wrap the ones I’m not eating right away to keep it from getting soggy.

Assembly

Assemble right before serving.

I put the yogurt whip on top of the pavlova, and then placed the honeyed peaches with the syrup on top of the yogurt. I garnished with freeze dried strawberry powder, fresh mint, chopped pistachios, and a drizzle of strawberry syrup (from some ice cream I made before this pavlova). Get creative! Pavlova is always going to look so awesome no matter what.

That’s it! Enjoy the chaotic mess of digging into a pavlova.