s. came to visit a. in berlin a few weeks ago, so we (s. & a.) decided to go to potsdam and visit schloss sanssouci, which was the summer palace of king frederick the great.
it is not far from berlin, (20 minutes by train, 45 minutes by car approximately).
we arrived around 12am, but unfortunately we didn't have time to visit everything. if you're planning on going there someday, we recommend you stay a whole day to see everything!
sanssouci palace in itself isn't very big , nothing like versailles. the "new palace" (constructed approximately 20 years after sanssouci palace), however, is much more spectacular, less intimate.
the terraced gardens, in front of the palace, are magnificent, with fig trees in niches, quite unusual!
the parc is huge and full of surprises! there are buildings everywhere: the picture gallery, the chinese house, the orangery palace, the roman baths, charlottenhof palace,...
we have a soft spot for the roman baths, which are incredible!
here are a few pictures:
sans-souci palace
the terraced gardens
the new chambers (+ the mill)
the roman baths
this little boy chasing ducks made us laugh so hard!
the chinese house
the new palace (+ a. and her statues!)
lime and red fruits pavlova:
for us, the season of red fruits means the season of pavlovas has arrived!
we love this dessert for so many reasons: first of all, it was named after the russian ballerina anna pavlova after her visit in australia/new-zealand (there is still an argument about its place of origin between the two countries), and we love cakes with a history. then it looks amazing, all white with colored fruits on it. and last but not least, it tastes amazing (which is kind of the most important thing)!
we use a french meringue in our version (you don't need to make a sugar syrup).
the whipped cream is just lightly sweet. don't hesitate to put more sugar in it if the fruits are not sweet enough for your taste.
the lime brings a welcome acidity, which goes perfectly well with the richness of the cream.
we chose to top it with red fruits and cherries, but you can try other combinations: a basilico whipped cream with strawberries, a mint whipped cream with raspberries,...
for one large pavlova:
for the french meringue:
3 egg whites
80 g caster sugar
80 g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
zests of 1 lime
2 tbsp lime juice
for the whipped cream:
300 g whipping cream
30 g mascarpone
1 tbsp cream cheese
20 g icing sugar
juice of 1/2 lime
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
red fruits, cherries,...
preheat the oven to 150°C (300 F).
prepare the meringue: mix together caster sugar and icing sugar.
in a bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt (if you're using a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment). when they become frothy, sprinkle in sugars a little at a time. continue whisking at high speed until the meringue is shiny and forms firm peaks.
using a spatula, fold in zests and lime juice.
butter and sugar a round baking pan. using a pastry bag, pipe the mixture in circle in the pan. pipe rounds ("tears") evenly on the bottom edge of the pan.
bake for 25-30 minutes (until light gold and a bit crispy). leave to cool.
remove the meringue from the pan very gently.
prepare the whipped cream: whisk together cream, mascarpone, cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla seeds. whisk the mixture into whipped cream. using a spatula, add gently lime juice.
using a pastry bag, pipe whipped cream in circle on the meringue. place red fruits. to give some volume to the pavlova, pipe then some rounds of whipped cream on the red fruits and place a raspberry on each round of whipped cream.
spread some lime zests on the pavlova.
piece of advice:
you can add whichever fruits you like on top of the whipped cream, raspberry and lychee, strawberry and passion fruit,...
you can make a two or three layers pavlova to have an even more impressive dessert!
