Strawberry, Lime, and Basil Pavlova with Whipped Cream

Name: Strawberry, Lime, and Basil Pavlova with Whipped Cream
Yield: Serves 10
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups (10½ ounces), sugar; 3/4 cup (6 ounces), egg whites (5 to 7 large eggs); 1 1/2 teaspoons, distilled white vinegar; 1 1/2 teaspoons, cornstarch; 1 teaspoon, vanilla extract; 2 pounds, strawberries, hulled and quartered (5 cups); 1 tablespoon, sugar; 1/2 teaspoon, grated lime zest plus 1½ teaspoons juice; Pinch , salt; 1/3 cup, chopped fresh basil, plus 10 small leaves, divided; 2 cups, heavy cream, chilled; 2 tablespoons, sugar

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated November/December 2018

Desserts or Baked Goods

Pavlova is a drop-dead gorgeous dessert of marshmallowy, crisp-shelled meringue piled with lightly whipped cream and fresh fruit. Ours is as foolproof as it is beautiful.

SERVES10

TIME2 to 2½ hours, plus 1¾ hours cooling and 30 minutes macerating

Strawberry, Lime, and Basil Pavlova with Whipped Cream

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

For foolproof pavlova, we switched from the typical French meringue—which requires precise timing when adding the sugar to the egg whites—to a Swiss meringue, which is made by dissolving the sugar in the egg whites as they are heated over a...

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