stacy's kitchenaid inauguration

I have to let you in on a little secret ... I have a serious case of kitchen gadget envy, stemming from this fella' pictured below.



It belongs to my friend Stacy, newly betrothed to MIT compatriot Albert. And yes, I have a case of the ooh-la-lah's for it, for all KitchenAid stand alone mixer owners actually. //swoon.

So it was only right for Stacy and I to throw the mixer it's own "welcome home" soiree, right? Right. Good blog reader. Just nod your head and smile and pretend we aren't crazy. :)

This past Saturday I headed over to Stacy's, armed with a bag o' wine (bag filled with bottles, mind you, not one of those bizarre-o deconstructed Franzia contraptions. e-gad, no). We had our sights on a recipe to make, and had the whole afternoon to spare. The recipe? Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova. Heavenly //double swoon, and maybe if we felt the urge, some pizza dough ... just so we could use this dough hook and I could snap this photo of dear ole Stacy.

:)



Some things just have to be done. Yarrr. Ay matey.

Anywho. On to the pavlova of heavenly proportions.

Nigella's Chocolate Rasppberry Pavlova
From Nigella Lawson, but of course.

6 egg whites
1.25 C white sugar
3 TB sifted cocoa powder
1 tsp balsamic (or red wine, we used balsamic) vinegar
50 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

for the topping:
homemade whipped cream
2-3 containers of raspberries
2-3 TB dark chocolate, shaved on top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites until there are satiny-sheened (yup, made up a word) peaks, and then slowly beat in the sugar one spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Thankfully, with the KitchenAid, this takes minimal effort. God bless you, mixer. Let's be best friends forever.



Go, go gadget ...




Sift in the cocoa like so...



Add the vinegar and dark chocolate, folding in gennnnntly. It'd be a shame to lose all that the mixer has done, right?



Mix together gently until all of the chocolate and cocoa is mixed in, then mound onto the baking sheet in a fat circle, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then *immediately* turn the head down to 300 degrees F and cook for 1 - 1.25 hours. When it's ready it should look crispy around the edges and be dry on top but have a bit of "squidginess" to it when you poke the center. Remove and let cool.

Behold.



Now, make the whipped cream as your mama taught ya'. Smear on top oh so gently (it's a delicate pavlova), then top with berries and chocolate.

Here's the finished product. Not too bad for two meringue n00bs, I'd say.



Oh, and we also made some incredible pizza. Why? Remember the pizza hook pirate pose above? Well, we wanted to try. We had a delicious day in store, let me tell you.