Latest news with #AnnaPavlova
Chicago Tribune
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Baked with love: Recipe for a light, airy pavlova that will woo your Valentine
As a baker, I relish making a Valentine's Day dessert. Instinct says to seduce with a decadent chocolate treat, but sadly, my Valentine for the past 20 years isn't the biggest chocolate lover. But I found a way to his heart: a pavlova. This meringue-based dessert was named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova over a century ago. It's enchantingly messy, with a shattering, melting outer crust yielding to a soft, marshmallow-like center. To complement the lean, sweet meringue, add a pile of whipped cream, a dribble of tangy lemon curd, a shower of fresh, juicy fruit and maybe some chopped nuts to sink your teeth into. (Oh, and it happens to be gluten-free.) Pavlova is a classic dessert in Australia and New Zealand, but I won't argue about where it originated. Instead, I asked my Melbourne-based baking buddy Adam Miller, a finalist on the 'Great Australian Bake Off,' his thoughts. 'It's one of Australia's most iconic desserts.' he said, 'Especially in summer. Even more so at Christmas time. You'll struggle to find a Christmas dessert table across the country that doesn't feature a glorious pavlova, smothered with whipped cream and bejeweled with seasonal fruits.' Since the Aussies whip up pavlova this time of year, you should try your hand at one to channel some of their antipodean summers. It provides the perfect ray of sunshine during our long winter. Our groceries are full of glorious winter citrus, which adds brightness to this ethereal dessert, which is bound to entice your Valentine. Pavlova This light, airy meringue relies on egg whites and sugar to achieve billowy peaks. The key is to use superfine sugar to ensure the sugar is fully dissolved, as regular granulated sugar is a challenge to dissolve. Prep time: About 15 minutes active time, 70 minutes baking, and at least 2 hours cooling time. Yield: 6-inch pavlova, which is two to four servings. Ingredients: 100 g (1/2 cup) superfine sugar 1 wedge of lemon 2 large fresh egg whites (save the yolks for the lemon curd) Pinch of fine sea salt 1 teaspoon corn starch 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (from the lemon wedge) 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Directions: 1. Put the granulated sugar into a blender or food processor and pulse until finely ground, almost powdery, if you don't have superfine sugar. This helps the sugar dissolve more easily into the egg whites. 2. Heat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the middle of the oven. 3. Rub the inside of a clean stand mixer bowl with the cut side of the lemon wedge. Add the salt and egg whites, fit the mixer with a whisk attachment, and turn it to medium speed (6 on a KitchenAid). When the egg whites look like a frothy bath (just before soft peaks), about 1 minute, spoon in the sugar, one heaping teaspoon at a time, while the mixer is running. After adding all of the sugar, pause the mixer and scrape down any sugar stuck to the side of the bowl and the whisk. Keep mixing at medium until the sugar is dissolved — that's the most important thing. Stop the mixer every minute or so and rub the meringue between your fingers. If you feel any sugar granules at all, keep mixing. This usually takes 5 to 7 minutes, but it all depends on your mixer and the size of the sugar granules. 4. Stop the mixer once the sugar has dissolved, and sift the cornstarch on top, then turn the mixer on medium speed and mix until the cornstarch is thoroughly mixed in. Stop the mixer, scrape the sides of the bowl, and add the lemon juice and vanilla, then turn the mixer on to medium speed and mix until combined. Check to see that you have barely stiff peaks by lifting the whisk out of the meringue, then flip it upside down. The meringue should have peaks that point straight up or curl just slightly, like the top of a soft-serve ice cream cone. If your meringue isn't quite there, turn the mixer to medium-high and whip until you get those peaks. 5. Use a flat cookie sheet (without edges or rims) or turn a regular baking sheet upside down. This makes it much easier to remove the fragile pavlova. Cut a piece of parchment to fit the baking sheet. Draw a circle with a 5- to 6-inch diameter on one side of the parchment. Dab a bit of the meringue on all four corners of the baking sheet, then place the parchment paper on the baking sheet. (The meringue dabs act as a glue to keep the parchment in place when you spread the meringue.) 6. Dollop the meringue onto the circle in a tall mound, almost like a column. Using a small offset spatula or spoon, gently push the meringue down to match the circle you drew. Then, take your offset spatula or a butter knife and go around the edge of the pavlova to create nice, straight, even sides. Put the tip of the spatula (or the tip of a spoon) on the bottom of the outer edge of the pavlova and pull upward, creating an indentation in the pavlova with a bit of a peak on top. Go around the entire pavlova to give it this fun pattern. 7. Put the pavlova into the preheated oven carefully. Bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 60 minutes more. Turn off the oven. Allow the pavlova to cool completely in the oven — at least 2 hours with the door closed. Cooling completely in a closed oven will prevent it from cracking too much. You can make this ahead a day or two in dry conditions, but be sure to keep it airtight, either sealed with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. Note: It's hard to make pavlova on a very humid or rainy day. If you're somewhere very humid, a different dessert might be a better bet. You can make the pavlova base one day before serving. Store in an airtight container somewhere dry and dark. Lemon curd Everyone should know how to make lemon curd. This tangy, creamy spread adds some tartness to this pavlova. You can also spread it on a biscuit, swirl it into your morning yogurt, use it as a cake filling — or just eat it with a spoon. Prep time: 15 to 20 minutes Yield: 1 small jar (about 1 1/2 cups) Ingredients: 1 medium lemon 75 g (1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons) sugar Pinch of salt Pinch of ground turmeric (optional, but amps up the golden color) 1 large egg and 2 egg yolks 56 g (4 tablespoons) butter, cubed 1. Zest the lemon into a small saucepan and add the sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers. Juice the lemon. 2. Add the salt, turmeric, egg and yolks, and lemon juice to the saucepan with the zesty sugar and whisk to combine. 3. Cook on low heat for 5 to 6 minutes while stirring with a heat-proof spatula until the curd feels very warm. Then, turn the heat up to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens and reads 170 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant-read thermometer, about 4 to 5 more minutes. 4. Add the cubed butter and stir until the butter has melted and emulsified into the curd. 5. Push the curd through a fine mesh strainer, put it into a jar and refrigerate until needed. The curd will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. Whipped cream, garnishes and assembly Prep time: About 10 minutes Ingredients: 120 g (1/2 cup) heavy cream, cold 1 to 2 blood oranges, navel oranges or grapefruit 3 tablespoons chopped pistachios or almonds Directions: 1. Whip the cream at medium-high speed until soft peaks form using a stand or hand mixer. 2. Slice the top and bottom off the orange or grapefruit. Set the fruit on one of the flat sides, then, using a very sharp knife, slice off the rind and all of the white pith, revealing the flesh. 3. Use the knife to go in between the membranes to remove the orange segments, and place them in a bowl. 4. Just before serving (I mean it: don't top it until everyone is ready to eat) put the pavlova on a serving plate. Top the pavlova with the whipped cream, then dollop about 4 tablespoons of lemon curd on the cream and gently swirl it with a spoon 5. Garnish with citrus segments and sprinkle with chopped nuts. 6. Serve immediately.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spokane to explore capturing carbon at its power-generating trash incinerator
Jan. 27—An industrial-scale incinerator generating electricity by burning garbage is the largest producer of greenhouse gases controlled by the city of Spokane. Facing scrutiny from Olympia, city leaders are eyeing a costly study on technology to nab that pollution before it leaves the plant. The Spokane City Council is considering a $650,000 study by CarbonQuest, a Spokane Valley-based carbon capture company that has primarily tested technology in large residential buildings in the northeast but is turning its eye to potential industrial applications. The study would be funded by the state using money generated by the very state program that threatens the facility's long-term viability. The waste-to-energy facility is the only one of its kind in the state, and it's under the microscope of state leaders. The carbon cap-and-trade program of the Climate Commitment Act, which survived a citizen initiative in November, could hit the incinerator hard but notably exempts landfills. If the city starts having to pay into the cap-and-trade program for the facility's emissions in 2027, it could come with a cost of $2.5 million to $8 million each year. The city successfully lobbied the Legislature in 2023 to fund an emissions life-cycle analysis comparing the facility to landfills, which showed that burning the garbage releases more CO2 than burying it — but not when factoring in the electricity generated, recyclable metals pulled from the ash and other factors. The Legislature still hasn't agreed to an exemption, however, leaving the city with dwindling time to avoid a potentially devastating cost to maintain the waste-to-energy facility. However, funds generated by the carbon credit market were set aside to fund a study of whether it will be feasible to install carbon capture technology at the waste-to-energy facility. The facility's emissions are not minor: emissions from within city limits were estimated at around 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2019, of which nearly 100,000 metric tons or 5% are generated by the waste-to-energy facility. Capturing a significant fraction of these emissions would be a notable project in the nascent field of carbon capture, which has existed for decades at small scale and with limited success but is projected to become a trillion-dollar industry by 2050. Success in Spokane could serve as a case study for waste-to-energy facilities across the country and potentially abroad, said Anna Pavlova, senior vice president for strategy, market development and sustainability. "The waste to energy industry in general hasn't seen much carbon capture, even though that's seen as the one solution to their carbon emissions," Pavlova said. "Our hope is we can demonstrate it's feasible, we can capture emissions, we can continue the plant running — because otherwise that garbage will go into a landfill — and we want to use that as a case study for other companies." If approved by the City Council, the study would determine the viability of carbon capture at the waste-to-energy facility, draft up designs and explore the best ways to dispose the concentrated CO2 once it's been removed. Eastern Washington is well-suited to potential disposal methods, including storage of CO2 in wells deep in basalt or possible use of natural magnesium formations that can turn the carbon into a solid mineral such as magnesite, allowing it to be stored permanently, Pavlova added. It is less likely there is a current local market where the CO2 could be sold for industrial purposes, Pavlova noted. CarbonQuest's projects in New York state have been able to move the captured CO2 for use in concrete, where it can be both locked up permanently and put to commercial use, but Washington currently lacks the carrots and sticks that make that market viable, she added. But city officials still project optimism about the potential prospects, whether for selling CO2 for use in concrete, fertilizer or sustainable aviation fuel, a potential use being explored by startup Twelve with their pending plant in Moses Lake. Even sequestering the carbon without further commercial use could be a financial boon for the city, opening up potential tax credits, noted Marlene Feist, the director of the city's public works division, which oversees solid waste operations including the waste-to-energy facility. The study also implicitly dares the state to blink: If regulators heavily fine Spokane's facility, there won't be money to consider carbon capture technologies that could run into the tens of millions of dollars in construction costs, nor will a facility under fire by the state be attractive for potential grants, Feist noted. On the other hand, however, there's no guarantee the project will move beyond the study stage if the state does exempt the waste-to-energy facility from having to purchase carbon credits, though Feist said city leaders want to see it happen. "We would like to, but we're talking about tens of millions of dollars," Feist said. "This kind of investment can happen, but it takes time and planning to do so. Whether we have the exact answer from this study, we don't know, but maybe we have a roadmap."
