Rosewater Pavlova

PASTRY

Jan 24

Watermelon Rosé Sorbet, Sweet Cured Cucumber, Kiwi, Watermelon Chia, Lime, Mint

Pastry Chef Rochelle Cooper of Think Food Group | Washington D.C.

INGREDIENTS:

Sorbet Base:
124 grams water
139 grams granulated sugar
35 grams glucose powder
2 grams sorbet stabilizer

Watermelon Rosé Sorbet:
680 grams watermelon juice
34 grams rosé wine
2 grams rose water
2 grams kosher salt
282 grams Sorbet Base

Rosewater Pavlova:
223 grams egg whites
209 grams granulated sugar
209 grams powdered sugar
15 grams egg white powder
15 grams cornstarch
2 grams kosher salt
5 grams lemon juice
2 grams rosewater

Watermelon Chia:
409 grams watermelon juice
50 grams chia seeds
1 each vanilla bean, split and scraped
31 grams granulated sugar
6 grams lime juice

Sweet Cured Cucumbers:
200 grams cucumber, sliced ½-centimeter thick and quartered
10 grams mint, picked
10 grams salt
150 grams granulated sugar
25 grams honey
7 grams lime juice

Assembly:
1 each Rosewater Pavlova
1 scoop Watermelon Rosé Sorbet
5 pieces watermelon, varied sizes
1 tablespoon Sweet Cured Cucumbers
½ each kiwi, sliced and quartered
2 tablespoons Watermelon Chia
Lime zest
Maldon salt
Micro mint

METHOD:

For the Sorbet Base:
Bring water to a boil. In the meantime with a dry whisk, whisk dry ingredients together. Slowly stream in dry ingredients into the boiling water while whisking constantly. Continue whisking while bringing the mixture to 82C. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and cool in an ice bath.

For the Watermelon Rosé Sorbet:
For watermelon juice, cut the rind off (or use scraps) blend in Vita-prep on low just to break up. Strain through a china cap just to remove the seeds, then place back in the Vita-prep and blend on high for one minute to pulverize the pulp a little more. Strain through fine mesh sieve. This technique yields more body without the seeds interfering however seedless watermelon need only to be blended on high and strained through fine mesh sieve. Add remaining ingredients to the watermelon juice to combine with a hand immersion blender. Spin in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions to the consistency of soft serve. Watermelons vary widely in sugar content and this greatly affects the texture of the sorbet. I typically reach for 28-30 brix in my sorbets. It is important to taste the watermelon sorbet and increase sorbet base slightly if the watermelon is not sweet enough. Alternatively if the watermelon is very sweet, less sorbet base may be needed.

For the Rosewater Pavlova:
Preheat the oven to 185F (prefer not to use convection, but if so, no fan or low fan). Place egg whites in very clean and dry kitchen aid bowl with whip attachment, put on stir setting to break up the whites.Sift dry ingredients together.Begin whipping whites, once frothy add 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time, adding a little lemon juice and rosewater alternately. Continue whipping on high until stiff peaks. Pipe meringue onto a parchment lined sheet tray into large mounds just shy of the diameter of the bottom of a deli cup. They will expand slightly so leave 1.5" in between each. Dry meringues in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes. Once dry, store meringues in a cool dry place like in a box with silica packets. *Can be frozen.

For the Watermelon Chia:
For watermelon juice use the same method as we did in the sorbet recipe. Add vanilla seeds, sugar, and lime juice to the watermelon juice and use a hand blender to combine. Add the chia seeds, breaking up and lumps or chia clusters. Allow to thicken overnight.

For the Sweet Cured Cucumbers:
Cut cucumbers, mix everything together in a shallow half hotel pan, cover with plastic and place in the refrigerator. Allow to sit for an hour then mix again every so often to ensure they continue to cure in the liquid sugar mixture. Taste for texture/doneness, cucumbers should be more tender and reduce in size by half, remove from syrup.

To Assemble and Serve:
Place watermelon, kiwi, cucumbers in a half-moon, around the plate. Leave space at 8 o’ clock for the pavlova and 2 o’clock for the sorbet. Dress the fruits with the watermelon chia. Place the pavlova as shown. Scoop the sorbet on top of the fruit. Zest the lime over the plate, finish with a pinch of Maldon salt and micro mint.

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