When I was young, I wanted to play with make-up. It seems strange that my job now involves food but from a very young age I recall licking red Smarties (like m&m’s) and rubbing the wet red shell against my lips. I’d take red texta and colour in my finger and toe nails as brightly as I could. I was most fascinated by my mother’s lipstick collection. So much so that one day she came home to find that I had opened up all of her fantastic lipsticks, and smooshed them against the lids where there were pretty logos (I saw it as a stamp) and I proceeded to stamp pieces of paper, her dressing table and her mirror with the red and pink stamps. I honestly thought that I had blinged up the place and didn’t understand why she was so upset when she saw my effort.
One year they finally bought me my dream present, a Barbie fashion face. It was all that I wanted. Not only could I put make-up on a Barbie face, I could use the make-up on myself (which was what I really wanted to do). I opened the box excitedly taking out piece by piece searching for the red lipstick. I got to the bottom and couldn’t find it. I went through the pile of items and there was no red lipstick. I looked all around me for the red lipstick and I couldn’t find it.
“Mummy, they forgot to put the red lipstick in the box. Call them and ask for another!” I told her urgently. It seems that they hadn’t forgotten to put it in. My mum recalling the last effort of mine with the red lipstick had removed the potentially vandalising item just to be sure that I wouldn’t “stamp” the rest of the house with my mark. I was of course upset beyond belief. For a child, that had waited all year for this present it was devastating (and am I over it? I think not 
).
It’s now many, many years later and when we were presented with this month’s Daring Bakers challenge I wanted to do something to celebrate the history of the pavlova. I had already made a lot of pavlovas in my life as it is an Australian dessert but I wanted to do something that linked it to Anna Pavlova, the ballerina for whom it was created. There were pretty Royal Doulton bone china ballerinas but they were price prohibitive so I decided to use my own friend Barbie. I dragged Mr NQN along Barbie doll shopping and stood in front of the Barbie display dismayed to see that the Barbie Fashion Face was no longer.
I saw how Barbie had progressed and how her clothes and shoes had changed (I recall only one pair of heels for my Barbies, now there are multiple and with current styles no less!). I know Anna Pavlova was a brunette but this Barbie was able to be posed in a variety of poses and sort of had ballerina hair so I chose her. I know her skirt is a little less than perfect but the girls that I gave her to were absolutely delighted that I had managed to combine their two favourite things-Barbie and ballerinas!
So tell me Dear Reader, what was your favourite toy when you were young?
Ballerina Pavlova
The challenge is primarily based on a recipe from Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard and is called Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse.
Recipe Source: Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard
Blog-checking lines: The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard
Preparation time: The recipe can be made in one day although there are several steps involved.
* While the pavlovas are baking, the crème anglaise should be made which will take about 15 minutes.
* While it is cooling, the chocolate mascarpone mousse can be made which will take about 15 minutes.
* There will be a bit of a wait time for the mascarpone cream because of the cooling time for the Crème Anglaise.
* If you make the Crème Anglaise the day before, the dessert should take about 2 hours including cooking time for the pavlovas.
Equipment required:
• Baking sheet(s) with parchment or silpat
• Several bowls
• Piping bag with pastry tip
• Hand or stand mixer
• Barbie doll
• Silver cachous
Recipe 1: Meringue (for the Pavlova):
5 large egg whites
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp white granulated sugar
1/3 cup confectioner’s (icing) sugar
Directions:
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.
2. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)
3. Sift the confectioner’s sugar over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)
4. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Make a circle with the meringue and using a offert palette knife try and draw tutu-ish patterns. It doesn’t have to be exact (see picture).
5. Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe 2: Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):
- 1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
- 9 ounces (255 grams) white chocolate, chopped
- 1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone (don’t forget we made this a few months ago – get the printable .pdf HERE)
- pinch of nutmeg
- 2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice)
Mascarpone
Directions:
1. Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
2. Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)
3. Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse fitted with a small star tip.
Assembling the ballerina pavlova:
Once the pavlova is cooled, take out a serving plate. Carefully remove the parchment from the bottom of the pavlova. This is the trickiest bit and don’t panic if bits break off. Cut a circle in the centre of the pavlova that will fit the Barbie doll inside. Slot the Barbie vertically through the hole and gently lay her down moving her legs in a mid leap position. If pieces fall off that is ok, it makes it easier to fill with the mousse. Pipe mousse under the pavlova skirt filling in bits that had fallen off or sunken down to make the skirt appear full. Then pipe around the skirt to simulate a frilly layer under the tutu and pipe around the hole where the Barbie was slotted in and pipe a top on her. Pipe small stars and place silver cachous in the centre of the stars.
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now? 
NQN on Facebook
RSS
97 Comments | Add your own
Wow! Amazing work
That barbie really stands out.
http://www.bakingwithfrench.blogspot.com
This.IS.AMZAZING!!! I know the principle of the barbie-doll cake, but I would have never thought of making a barbie (ballerina) pavlova. I’m impressed. Fantastic job on the challenge!
She is absolutely gorgeous. Who would of ever thought that pavlova could look so good!
I taught my daughter how to put on Smartie lipstick and she thinks it’s the ants pants!!
I loved by Barbies!!
That is magnificent what a wonderful looking dessert any girl or woman would love it as a special celebration cake it is so pretty and thoughtful. KUDOS to you it is fabulous. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
*squeals* a barbie cake! It even compliments barbie’s blonde hair! I remember crying at a department store just so I can get my first barbie doll when I was 5…and my dad was responsible for her numerous dresses, shoes and accessories which I grew tired of quite quickly! Oh the joy of parenting! Don’t think I ever had a favourite toy but I did have a habit of pouring my mum’s chanel No.5 down the toilet… =P
Oh, how wonderful! This is the girliest pavlova I have ever seen, it made me gasp! And I really needed something to make me smile having just witnessed England being robber of a goal! xxx
I absolutely love the addition of the ballerina! Beautiful as always.
A great idea! That pavlova is awesome!
Cheers,
Rosa
I loved playing with Barbies. I was into their wardrobes and collected all kinds of outfits for them. Your pavlova is so cute! Lovely ballerina, and nice jewels on her too.
Oh that’s so cool.
(& how ridiculously long are Barbie’s legs!!)
Love the childhood anecdotes, I can just picture your dismay at your Mother’s lack of appreciation for your interior design efforts
This is amazing. Fabulous,original idea to honor Pavlova with a ballerina pav. You always think of something unique.
Barbie was one of my favorite toys. I think I also had the fashion face (but no red lipstick either, hmmmmm).
So cute!! I love it!
I could only see her splitting on the last pic, but this is definately a fresh change from the usual pavlova, I love the ballerina, and her necklace
A barbie pavlova! What an original idea. Her skirt looks so very pretty.
My fetish as a kid was trying out my Mom’s (and her friends’) high heels!
My fave toy was a straw stuffed teddy bear that was passed down to my sister, then my daughter and is now back with me!:D
WOW, I can’t say anything else, it is beautiful and my 4-year old wants me to make one just like it. What you just did to me
When I was a kid, I loved playing with Legos, and it’s still one of my favorite passtimes.
Greetings from Spain!
Haha you’re so creative Lorraine! This pavlova looks fantastic!
Lorraine your presentation as always is wonderful and so imaginative. Once I saw the picture it just seemed so right for you. I used to do that with smarties too, and you know they must still have those barbie heads as my daughter got one last year for her birthday.
You’re brilliant! that is one beautiful and unique pavlova. Im quite certain you have made teh famous ballerina proud
what a cute post! I really like this ballerina pavlova. My favourite toy when I was young was a kintchen set
That is so cool. Never thought of decorating in that way before. Hmm… My favourite toy growing up? It’s probably LEGO. I like making things out of LEGO blocks even until now.
Amazing. That’s all. You are so creative Lorraine ^_^
Barbie Fashion Face eh? The lipstick stamping strikes me as something E would try. hmmm Also, the lipstick removal strikes me as something I might do these days – it’s called ‘stress prevention’
Miss Anna Pavlova looks beautiful!
oh my – what a gorgeous little cake
Love the idea – and the implementation. This looks gorgeous! White chocolate must make this a very rich and sweet – yummy
Simply love the ballerina idea,bet this would be a great birthday too
If I was a litte girl, I would have loved to receive this too. As a child, Barbie was up there for me – I had Beauty Secrets Barbie (with very long hair that I partly melted drying it with a hairdryer)and a wedding Barbie who didn’t wear her wedding dress very often. The girl over the fence knicked some of my nicest Barbie accessories for her own dolls. I never had Barbie fashion face, but that would have been fun too.
Oh what a cute idea!! Looks adorable!! I remember having my sisters hand me down barbie fashion face….I adored that thing!!
Stunning and very witty! Reminds me of my Sindy Macaron post earlier in the year but I think your Barbie looks waaaaay better!
http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/2010/02/ottolenghi-chocolate-macarons-burlesque.html
I love pavlova and my favourite toy as a child was barbie- perfect combination!!
This is to cool for words! So adorable! It’s fun and elegant at the same time!
For some reason…why am I not surprised that you of all people would turn out something so creatively unique!
Excellent presentaion…and fun to boot! Brava!
Flavourful wishes, Claudia
What a beautiful pavlova. Is that Barbie? She makes a very pretty ballerina.
Something seems quite wrong in piping marscapone all over Barbie’s boobies… I wasn’t allowed to have a barbie as a child (don’t recall ever wanting one though), and I have a ban on them in my house- here’s hoping it never gets challenged! I always loved my dollhouse/treehouse
ohhh how gorgeous is this cake – I would have LOVED this as a kid!
I loved makeup too! Thankfully I got to wear as much of it as I liked when dance concert time came around!
Lorraine, you’re such a girl, that’s too funny! And I love Barbie’s extra flexible split! Have you been to see Toy Story 3? You have to go, just to see Barbie and Ken if nothing else..
Very nice1 I wish I could have seen your mother’s face, my mother did no use make up that much and neither do I. The pavlova looks divine!
Love it! Great work thinking outside the box on this one. Sorry to hear about the red lipstick debacle, I hope you have a whole draw full of them now to compensate
What an insanely wicked idea, Lorraine! You have such great innovative ways of presenting food. Really great job.
LOL! Oh how marvelous =p
I don’t think the creators of Barbie ever imagines one of their dolls being used like this =D
Every little girls dream cake!!!
This is such a brilliant idea! Love love love it. Much better than the icky-tasting almost-entirely-frosting Barbie cake a friend of mine once had at a birthday party.
Favourite toy? Hmm… I love Polly Pockets, back when they were tiiiiny things that fit in the palm of your hand!
Wow… Very cute Lorraine!! It reminds me a a “Barbie fashion” retrospective I saw in Paris as a kid – your pavlova would have been right home in this exhibition!
Let me see… as a kid I loved Barbie, of course, but I think I could play with pretty much everything, I had a pretty wild imagination. Give me a rock and 2 pieces of papers and I would come up with crazy scenarios about being stranded on an volcano, with the piece of paper as my only raft, and what kind of food I would need to survive, etc. Could last for hours literally!
Also loved my old Nintendo pocket games, remember Donkey Kong?
It looks fantastic Lorraine! Well done! I always wanted a Barbie cake as a kid and never got one…
Awwww this is SO cute!! You did a great job.
By the way, you weren’t the only one that used red smarties to give yourself red lippie *laughs*
Seeing this made me smile so much as I relived my childhood when my Mum actually made me a cake that looked similar. Thanks for bringing back such a beautiful memory.
Lorraine,
Love the cake. I like your story to hahaha …
I love Barbie, I remember when I had my first one. Then the rest was just history. My Mom made beautiful dresses from left over materials she had for our dresses. I took the barbie & packed for her too when we’re going away. hahaha that sounds so silly now.
I still have the dolls & all their stuff. I just coudln’t give them away. I’m 32 now and still loving it (no I don’t play with them anymore).
You horror child LOL.
Love where your mind went with this challenge, how perfect to make it in to a ballerina pav.
I was a bit of a tom boy growing up, loved my barbies, but adored my lego and pop gun
Great idea. My mother used to make celebration cakes for people,and I remember a similar style with a dolls body poking out. Hers were made of fruit cake I think, and usually for an engagement party.
I love it! I’ve seen Barbie cakes before but NEVER in a pavlova. Points for girliest, most original post! Barbie was indeed my favourite doll as a child, and with all the grief she gets I turned out pretty good.
Simply brilliant!
I, too, adored Barbies when I was growing up. But I have to say that my fave toy was my Snoopy. My aunt worked for the company that distributed all the Peanuts character toys. So, every Christmas, I would get some sort of Snoopy item. I took that plush, 18-inch black-and-white dog with me everywhere. I still have him, too. Though, I sheepishly admit he’s more black and gray now.
Gorgeous cake! I went to a 2 yr old’s bday party on the weekend and they had similar constructions – and boy were they well received by the tots! Yours looks like the couture adult version (theirs was a sprinkles and fluoro icing affair).
OMG… you come up with the wackiest ideas. I mean this in a good way.
Lovely! I was the little girl who bought dolls with broken arms or missing eyes because I felt so sorry for them
Loved my Barbies too.
I was never into Barbies(I loved baby dolls), but my little granddaughters would LOVE this! You are so creative! She’s beautiful!
I love that you made a ballerine pavlova and gave it away. How fun! I remember using Easter malted milk balls (Robin’s Eggs) as lipstick. Only there weren’t any pretty red colors – lol. xoxo Mum
This is amazing.. and this is truely excellent what else I can say….
Pavithra
Very lovely Lorraine.The barbie looks great.I remember once when I was young cutting the long hair of my sisters doll & then telling her not to worry cause it would grow back.Can’t remember what my favoorite toy was, that’s a bit sad.
I used my mum’s makeup inclusive of 70′s blue eyeshadow to colour in a sealed section of my colour in book !!!! I did it carefully and while she was having a nap. I’m not sure if she knows about it or not. Now that I am 38 and a mother I think well it was her bad for not supplying us with textas !! I also made my first pizza and cupcakes while she was having one of her daily “naps” ha ha ha ( I was 9 !)
That is so sweet! I wonder if my Damn Emo teens will let me make them one…
Make good use of those skanky Bratz dolls they had.
Absolutely love what you have done,,it looks fabulous!!
Certainly the prettiest and most original pavlova i’ve ever seen! And although i’d heard of Anna Pavlova (I used to do ballet for 12 years), I never knew this was created in her honour – so I love that you’ve made a ballerina pavlova!
Sadly I was never allowed Barbie dolls (my my thought they were too commercial so I had china dolls instead), but my favourite toy was my tea set – oh the tea parties I used to throw with my teddies!
And I too had an unfortunate run-in with my mother’s makeup (which I thought was the most glamorous thing in the world).
Briony xx
You are a woman after my own heart, Lorraine! When I was younger I always wanted a Dolly Varden cake for my birthday and my Mum made me the most spectacular version one year. The Pavlova is an inspired idea – the meringue is so tulle like, it’s a perfect match. I had a Barbie Face Maker too – and a Barbie perfume factory!
I used to get b’day cakes like this! But not pav…
Oh, the memories…
Very cute Lorraine! I think it’s too pretty to eat – and I would hate to suddenly hear Barbie saying “hey, why you eating my dress?!”
I had a Jenny the airline stewardess doll and my sister had the entire Sunshine Family dolls, does anyone remember them? I guess now they would be politically incorrect.
fantastic concept – just missing the lipstick
I loved the old make up my aunties gave us as children – the blue nail polish was my favourite – and a friend had the barbie head which I loved, though having little sisters did the job just as well 
Purty, purty, purtee! Pavlova and cream is a favourite!
My mom made me doll cakes like that for my birthdays growing up!
This reminds me, I had planned on making a dolly Varden cake for myself for my birthday last week, but I totally forgot!
Oh well.
This looks beautiful.
I had way too many Barbies when I was little. Even MC Hammer Barbie.
What an adorable cake to give to a little girl for her birthday. How lucky were the recipients of your cake then
My favourite toy was a toy lounge suite covered in the most gorgeous cherise velvet. I used to play with it for hours and my friends were not allowed to touch it! How very bossy hehe I wish I knew what happened to it
Wow this is so whimsical. Fantastic
Absolutely gorgeous and so inventive!
Waw, Lorraine!!
What a CREATION, …AMAZING too!!
You are certainly Soooo,…TALENTED!!! The idea alone,…hahahaha,..the blond barbie looks lovely, very stylish & ooh so elegant too!
I never played with barbies but with Playmobil!
OMG love the story
too cute!
Very cute Lorraine! I’m wondering how you got the Barbie into the pavlova? I would have smashed the whole thing! Love the swirly icing “top” she’s got on
Beautiful and so creative! I love how fun your creations always are.
I think my favorite toy must have been Barbie, or perhaps my stuffed animals.
Fablous cakes…
Oh, Beautiful..
Oh Lorraine, what a beautiful cake…really pretty
oh my! Beautiful gown!
This totally cracks me up! Thanks so much for sharing the fun story, along with your Pavlova!
ah, so graceful. i always used to wish that i could do splits like barbie. yes, many young girls wished for barbie’s figure, but i just wanted her flexibility.
This is gorgeous, Lorraine! I love how you integrated the history of the dish into your rendition of it. My niece turns 7 next month and I think I’m going to attempt to make this masterpiece for her (*fingers crossed, lol!*).
haha.. this made me smile. very novelle!
LOL lorraine, you make my day with your creations. Who would have thought, barbie + pavalova…genius!
What a beautiful looking dessert. Who would have the heart to cut it up? I loved playing with barbie as a child and would dress them up and act out different scenes. But my brother would always break my dolls
I did’nt know what a barbie fashion face was so I googled it and saw an old commercial. Now the jingle is stuck in my head!
Ahh reminds me of my preschool birthdays
Veery cool rendition of Pavlova – I’m sure the real Pavlova would have been thrilled.
Cool desserts..
My cousin recommended this website, you have awesome blogs. Thanks for the useful info.
What a pretty pavlova, absolutely adore your presentation
That is super cute! Love it.
I also wanted the Barbie Fashion Face when I was younger to no avail. My sister had the Barbie Penthouse but never let me play with it
Love your interpretation of the DB challenge this month! I settled for not making an American-style pav (meringue) and trying an Aussie version which was fairly successful but nothing as pretty as yours!!!
My daughter would love this cake! She is turning 4 soon and I know just the perfect birthday cake to make for her. You are so creative. Thank you.
I had like a thousand Barbies growing up…along with every accesory aand matching Ken doll to date her. I would have died and gone to heaven if this was served to me for my birthday or any occasion. In fact – I would still love it! What a gorgeous and brilliant idea to incorporate Anna Pavlova into your well, pavlova in Barbie ballerina form!
Oh, my gosh! This is the best idea, ever! I love the story of how the pavlova got it’s name and I love your literal interpretation!
As usual, you charm and inspire me!
Love your creation! Brilliant idea!
This is so awesome! Better than burning and beheading Barbies as some “consciousness raising” exercise!
Post a Comment