Pavlova is the New Cupcake

Hello out there, my little cupcakes. Happy Earth Day! Blow up those beach balls and break out the vintage swim caps--summer is here early. For those of you in the Bay Area, I hope you’re making the best of this sizzling heat (who else is bathing in SPF 70?) and planning a fun BBQ or picnic outing for the weekend. Speaking of BBQs, I was just in Palm Springs for Coachella over the weekend where I got to see some great bands and hang poolside with my best bud from NYC. Said BFF, after having toured the south last week, gushed about how Snow’s Barbeque is really that good, justifying the line forming at 8AM. Looks like they ship 2nd day for non-TX residents, so I’m sitting here hemming and hawing over placing an order. Cupcakes and brisket, anyone? I’m thinking a limoncello flavor would be a nice complement…

Anyhow, to the inquiries related to going A.W.O.L: my apologies for the code silence! I should have posted an ‘OOO’ notice during the few weeks in March I was off the grid in Kiwiland. Not surprisingly but still to my disappointment, NZ didn’t have much going on in the way of innovative cuisine, but the lush landscape and activity-packed itinerary offered a semi-precious opportunity to disconnect. Facebook, what?

So when a very traditional, classically New Zealand dessert (Australian if you’re an Aussie; a hotly contested subject) prepared by the mate of our B&B host happened to be among the few memorable bites I recall from my vaca, it sort of threw me for a loop. Pavlova? Really? But it’s so…boring. Kind of, yes. It doesn’t get more basic than egg whites and castor sugar, but in these bleak economic times I’ve been nostalgic for all things simple, so much so that it was my inspiration to transform them into cupcakes topped with fresh whipped cream and 'petals' of strawberries.

I haven't concluded whether champagne vinegar is overpowering for this recipe, but this definitely needs R&D before I could offer it as a standard flavor.