Kat from Brooklyn, NY (2018 Week 4: Desserts)

Baker

Kat

Location

Brooklyn, NY

Baking Challenge

Layered Meringue Dessert

Give your dessert a clever name – and tell us about your recipe.

Blackberry & White Peach Crown Layered Pavlova – It's three layers of meringue with lemon pastry cream and lemon curd, topped with white peaches and blackberries. The top layer has a piped detail to resemble a crown, with a W for Wisconsin in the middle.

What was the biggest surprise during your baking journey? Did you use any unconventional approaches? What did you learn along the way? Tell us about it!

I'm feeling so much more confident with pastry cream and lemon and lime curds, as I did them this week and last. Normally, I've seen pavlovas with whipped cream, but I chose to use pastry cream because it's absolutely delicious and received a lot of compliments last week! What I learned is that once you place a meringue layer and top with it with cream, it's hard to move. I tried to pick up the top two layers to add more blackberries, but it was far too late. The meringue had started to soak the cream up, and it would've been the end of my meringue if I had tried to pick it up.

How did you add a Wisconsin twist to your flavors or decoration?

The top layer of meringue had a W in it, which I topped with blackberries. I wish I had used raspberries, but they weren't on sale at the market.

How did you do?

Rocked it.