Today, I crazily baked the day away. I baked Anne Burrell’s focaccia recipe which turned out great. I made the mistake of buying an instant active dry yeast when the recipe called for an active dry yeast. I spent half the day looking for that yeast but sadly there was none. Thanks to google. I found a way to incorporate it in the recipe. I also made a copycat Levain cookie dough recipe which I kept in the freezer.

My husband’s birthday is also coming up soon. I baked his cake a week early so we would have time to eat out on his actual birthday. Does that make sense? lol. I was looking for a cake recipe that was easy to bake and at the same time visually appealling. I baked Pavlova.

Pavlova, named for the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova after her 1920s tour through Australia, is an airy meringue cake topped with whipped cream. Popular in both Russia and Australia, the pavlova consists of a crisp shell base with a marshmallowlike interior.

 

I used lemon curd instead of whipped cream. The next time I bake this, I’ll definitely use whipped cream and less sugar.