... Pavlova is a firm favourite in New Zealand and Australia (and is originally from this area) as is the perfect sweet compliment after a filling Barbie!
And when we made these in our May holiday classes one of the cooks said that her Grandfather knew Anna Pavlova the Russian ballerina who this pudding was named after!
Its also incredibly easy to make, great fun to make (all children want to do the meringue test...more on that later), its gluten free, relatively cheap, you can make it the day before and you can add anything onto the Meringue nest - whatever cream, fruit or chocolate/nuts you like!
Hello and Welcome to Summer
A time of BBQ's, Fresh Fruits & Wimbledon! SO how ideal to make a Pavlova - a small or big one and if once like me you didn't cook the Pavlova on greaseproof paper and so it broke up...make it into Eton Mess!
Makes 20 mini Pavlovas -
4 medium egg whites (or 3 large) - (make sure they have been kept out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes before whipping them up)
175g of caster sugar
125g pot of crème fraiche
125g pot of whipped double cream
Icing Sugar (1-2 tbsp sieved)
Mint leaves (to decorate)
Possible Toppings:
Mango & Passion Fruit:- 1 tbsp of mango pulp & Ripe Passion Fruit Blueberries & Strawberries
Raspberries & Milk & White Chocolate Chips
Pistachio & Fresh Mango
Fresh figs & Blackberries
Blueberries & Fresh Mango
1. Firstly, make the meringues by separating the egg white and yolk * and whisk the whites until you can put the bowl upside down over your head! Re the Meringue test - see below!
This is the best way to ensure you have enough air in your egg whites - but of course it carries a risk! When you have whisked your egg whites for around 5 minutes and the mixture doesn't look "wet" carefully turn the bowl upside down and the mixture will not fall out! You are then ready to go to the next step! (we did this at both our May classes and the cooks always remember it and no it didn't fall onto their heads!)
2. Gradually add in the sugar one spoonful at a time whisking thoroughly until the mixture is glossy.
3. Using a tablespoon put a blob of mixture on a baking sheet - making a slight smaller round indentation in the middle and repeat until all the mixture is used up. Leave a 1cm gap between each one. You can use a piping bag rather than a tablespoon - pipe the mixture directly on the baking sheet. Or to make a large Pavlova tip all the mixture out and arrange in a circle or oval and make an indentation so you create sides to your Pavlova.
4. Put the mini Pavlovas into the oven at 130 degrees (110 degrees fan) and after 45 minutes turn off the oven but leave the meringues inside with the oven door ajar (this is key to making them crispy on the outside and marshmellowy on the inside!) for a further 45 minutes. For the maxi Pavlova increase the timings to 1 hour each.
5. In the meantime mix together the crème fraiche and whipped cream and add onto each meringue. If you want this to be sweeter add in 1 tbsp of the sieved icing sugar.
5. Top with a few pieces of fruit/nuts/coulis of your choice
6. Dust with the rest of the icing sugar and a mint leaf
*As we discovered in the May classes - its best to use 3 bowls when separating the eggs - one for the yolks - one for all the egg whites and one for each time you separate the white and yolk so that if one time you spoil the egg white by breaking the yoke you don't loose all the egg whites!
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