The White Queen and a Pavlova

I consider Philippa Gregory chick lit of history buffs.   I have read all of her books on Tudor England, including her most successful, The Other Boleyn Girl.  Gregory covered the Tudors from all possible angles - telling the stories of all of Henry VIII's six wives as well as his daughter Queen Elizabeth.  As soon as I finish any of her books I jump on wikipedia to read the real story of the historical characters in her novels.  Gregory is extremely accurate in her depiction of historical events, and always acknowledges when she takes fictional liberties.  The White Queen is the beginning of a new series for Gregory, focusing on the predecessors to the Tudors, the Plantagenets - these are the folks of the war of the roses.  The White Queen tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, an ambitious noblewoman who catches the eye and heart of King Edward IV, the first York, King.   The novel is romantic, swooney (I know that isn't a real word!) and also violent.  Gregory depicts both the bedroom and the battlefield vividly.   Elizabeth was called The White Queen because the banner of her husbands family, the Yorks, is a white rose (while the banner of their enemies family, the Lancasters, is a red rose.)  I decided on a large white pavlova for The White Queen, topped with fluffy white whipped cream, but then topped with blood red berries to represent the bloody battles in the book.

There is not much more to say about the book.  This is a great book to read while having a spa night or something.    It is a pulpy romance.  It has love stories, palace intrigue, witchcraft, and war.  Who the King of England is in the book changes several times.  At the center of it all though is Elizabeth Woodville, a British noble and widow, whose family is firmly on the side of the Lancasters in the War of the Roses.  One day she decides she is going to trap the new young king, Edward IV.  She meets him as he is riding through her village and the rest, as they say, is history.  They instantly fall in love/lust, and using the magic her mother taught her, Elizabeth wins the kings heart and becomes the Queen of England.  Her family rises quickly in the King's court and is soon the subject of much resentment and hatred.  Elizabeth is an ambitious Queen who seems to never be satisfied, but is always striving for more for her family.  Part of this is necessary just to secure their survival.    The Yorks are the family that warred with each other and murdered each other for access to the throne.  When Elizabeth's husband dies his brother, Richard (the Richard of Shakespeare's Richard III), kidnaps her sons and the heirs to the throne and murders her brother.  These sons are the famous "princes in the Tower" who mysteriously went missing when Richard seized power.  The book does not attempt to solve the mystery.  What's fun about the book for me at least is the history, which when read in a textbook is dry and dull.  Gregory is a master of using the romance and drama to make the history go down easy.  This was a fun, uncomplicated read.

PAVLOVA WITH BERRY SAUCE

This is a basic and easy Pavlova recipe adapted from Ina Garten in her book, Barefoot at Home.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

4 room temperature egg whites

pinch of kosher salt

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

sugar to taste (2 tablespoons or so)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups mixed berries

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup raspberry jam

Directions: Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Put piece of parchment paper on cookie shot.  Draw a nine inch circle on the parchment (use a cake pan or plate).  Beat the egg whites and salt in bowl of mixer with whisk attachment on high speed until they form stiff peaks.

Add 1 cup of sugar slowly while still beating on high speed, until the egg whites are glossy and stiff peaks form.

Sprinkle the cornstarch over the egg whites, add the vinegar and vanilla and fold the egg whites till it is all blended.  Take the egg whites and spread them on the parchment circle, smooth with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 1 and half hours.  After that time, turn oven off and leave the meringue in the oven for another hour to dry out.    

For raspberry sauce, put raspberries sugar and water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil then let simmer for four minutes.  Add jam and then puree, either in a food processor or with a hand blender.  Ina also recommends putting some raspberry liqueur in the sauce.  That would definitely be great, but I didn't have any and didn't want to buy any cause this would be the only thing I would use it for!  

To serve the Pavlova, whip the cream (adding sugar and vanilla to sweeten and flavor.   Top the Pavlova with the whipped cream.  Pour the raspberry sauce over and then the fresh berries.  Dig in!