Pavlova: dessert fit for a queen

J & G Steakhouse Raspberry Rose Pavlova

At the W Hotel's J & G Steakhouse at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (near the White House), we stumbled upon this decadent dessert. The Pavlova had raspberry sorbet, raspberry- rose water coulis with cream, a ring of fresh raspberries topped with crunchy meringue (crunchy cookie made with egg whites and sugar).
Almost immediately after taking the first few bites, I realized that home cooks could recreate this delicious sweet and crunchy dessert with the burst of summer berries. The rose water made it mysterious and delicate, even regal. Dessert fit for a queen, and easy to make!

I like the idea of sharing this dessert with another, so the portions are ideal for two people sharing dessert after a large meal. Easy to adapt to the typical recipe size for 4-6 people.

If you would like to make meringues from scratch or get ideas about assembly, check out the primer from Bon Appétit.

Ingredients:
Sorbet/coulis:
-2-3 cups Summer berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. The larger the berry, the more you need, so 2 cups for blueberries and 3 cups for whole strawberries. Fresh if possible, frozen is fine. This is more than enough for 4-6 servings and should yield almost 3 cups.

-1/2 cup sugar or one half (6 ounces from a 12-ounce container) pure juice concentrate, either a raspberry or grape blend (for berries).

Note: For one shared serving, crush with or blend with blender a handful of berries (almost one cup) with 2 tablespoons sugar. For a large amount I recommend using a blender.

Other ingredients:
-One scoop (use pint to serve 4 people) French (or just regular) vanilla ice cream.

-One teaspoon (single serving) or 1 tablespoon (4-6 servings) rose water, sold in international aisle, Middle Eastern/halal markets. This is important for enhancing the taste, so please try to find it.

-2 teaspoons/tablespoons heavy cream or thaw some of the vanilla ice cream

-7 to 11 raspberries per serving

-Enough vanilla meringue(s) to cover the ice cream and sorbet. I bought meringues from Trader Joe's and used 4. Whole Foods sells smaller meringues that can be clustered on top. If you make your own, you can make one large meringue.

Directions for sorbet/coulis:
Blend or mash fruit and sugar/concentrate in freezer-safe bowl. Or get a gallon-size freezer bag and squeeze until lumps go away. Great activity for kids. Just make sure the bag is sealed properly! Freeze for 3 or more hours. Ideally it won't be a hard block in order to scoop in onto serving dish. I prefer sorbet like at the restaurant. They also add another sauce, but the sorbet will melt and create the sauce. If pressed for time, there is no need to freeze.

Raspberry Rose Pavlova at home

Assembly:
-Place small scoop of sorbet onto plate. Flatten.
-Add cream around the outside and splash rose water.

-Position a scoop of ice cream.
-Place berries around ice cream, creating a ring.

-Top with meringues, then place berry in the middle.

Serve immediately. Crunch and swoon!