What a Daring Baker does with left overs!

With my Strawberry Mirror Cake complete, I was left with alot of slightly strained strawberries (I still had lots of juices left in mine after 10 minutes of straining), and lots of the syrup used for moistening the cake. I also had egg whites. Five egg whites, to be exact.

And that was exactly the right amount of egg whites needed to make a Pavlova!

And mixing the two left over parts of the strawberries gave me a sweet, summery topping for a Pavlova!

Personally, I took that as a sign, picked up some whipping cream and pulled out my friend Bob, the stand mixer.

For the recipe, I headed to Trish Boyle's Cake Book, which I had bought on the recommendation of many fellow Daring Baker's, but admit I haven't looked at much yet. (I'm still working on it but with Harry Potter coming to visit this week, I won't be tackling a cookbook just yet.)

I was pretty sure I knew what would go into a Pavlova, egg white, cream of tartar, a pinch of salt, and sugar, but I always like to make sure I know my proportions before I start something. (Then I can ignore them if I want to?)

Despite all the cake decorating I've been doing, and all the piping and tips, I decided to go with the blob method of laying my egg whites out on the parchment. That way I could be more creative and get my hands in there. Okay, I admit, I was also feeling too lazy to go down to the basement, pull out my cake kit from the pantry shelf, open it, take out a bag and a coupler and a tip. Blobbing was fun, and easy!

While I used the recipe for the meringue from The Cake Book, I didn't pay much attention to it for the rest of the pavlova. When I was ready, I whipped up some cream with some vanilla and sugar, blobbed it on top (yes, I like the word blob! Blob Blob Blob Blob! hehehehe) and poured on the strawberry syrup puree mixture. I got a bit carried away with how much strawberry I put on top. Oh well.

By now, my children were drooling down their shirts, waiting for some dessert. They didn't quite know what it was, but it had sugar and cream and strawberries, so that was okay with them!

And it was sweet! Sooo sweet! I did not finish my portion, though my husband went back for seconds, and my oldest child finished off his own, and his brothers. It was the strawberries that carried most of the sweetness, and since I had put a few too many on, they were the predominant flavor.

Wonder if next month's challenge is going to provide me with some good left over fodder?

Perfect Pavlova
From The Cake Book

Meringue Shell
5 large egg whites, at room temperature
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Whipped cream filling
1 1 /4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fruit topping of your choice

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 225F. Using a cake pan or cardboard cake round as a guide, draw a 9-inch circle on a piece of parchment paper. Turn the paper upside down and place it on a baking sheet.
In a bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Add the salt and cream of tartar and beat at medium-high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Gradually add the sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, then increase the speed to high and beat the whites until stiff peaks form.
Scoop some of the meringue into the center of the circle and spread it over the circle with a small metal spatula. Spoon dollops of meringue around the edge, then spoon on another row of dollops.
Bake the meringue for 1 hour, or until it is lightly colored and dry to the touch. Turn the oven off and leave the meringue in the oven for at least two hours.

Up to 2 hours before serving, make the filling, dollop the whipped cream into the center, then add the fruit on top.

Enjoy!