I love pavlova as I like to think it’s good for you as the main ingredients include one of your five a day and egg whites (no-one needs to know about the copious amounts of sugar).
Pavlova also includes one of favourite steps in baking, decorating and the more the better, especially as pavlova should be treated as the showstopping dessert that it is.
Why am I writing a blog about pavlova you ask? Well the problem is of the handful of times that I have baked pavlova it never seems to turn out like the lovely white pavlova I am used to seeing, my pavlovas are more of a light caramel flavour. This delights my mam as she informs me that she prefers brown meringues as you don’t see them that often, so happy days.
So I had a family event recently and as per I said I’d bake something and it being summer, or as close to summer as Ireland can get, I chose a pavlova.
So I baked the usual pavlova recipe; whisk egg whites until stiff and when turned upside down they don’t fall on your head, then whisk in the caster a sugar a little at a time until glossy, add in your white wine vinegar, cornflour and vanilla extract and you’re done. Spoon onto baking parchment, I used a dinner plate to trace a circle, spread it out and create a dip in the middle for your fruit. Bake in the oven for an hour and leave overnight, this is when I discover to my dismay it is once again a caramel brown.
Decorating:
This is when your inner artiste comes to the forte and you can create your work of art, or so I like to think.
I blended mango and orange juice together with sugar for the sauce. I made a chantilly cream with icing sugar and vanilla extract. Then I spread a layer of the cream on the bottom and pressed halved strawberries into this, I added another layer of cream and placed the rest of the halved strawberries in the second layer of cream. The finishing touches were a generous drizzling of the mango and orange sauce and lots of milk chocolate shavings.
The result was one of your five a day with lots of dairy, super healthy!
The challenge to perfect the pavlova continues….
Fernweh with T 