First Pavlova

I have the week off of work, and there is no point in trying my hand at any freelance projects this week because most of the country is taking it easy until after New Year's. So, I am enjoying a week at home watching movies, finding the gym again, catching up on little projects, and flitting around with friends. I am also going to take this week to catch up on blogging, since we've taken two marvelous trips that I have not yet posted about.

Today, though, I must tell you about my latest culinary accomplishment: I tackled the pavlova.

Pavlova is a meringue-esque cake that is incredibly popular in Australia and New Zealand. It is a good Christmas dish for the Southern hemisphere summer since it is light and cool. Don't get Aussies or Kiwis going on which country invented it; that is an ongoing debate. Makes little difference to me. All I know is that it is a treat, and famously tricky to make well.


I followed this recipe to relatively good success.

Ingredients are: 6 egg whites, 1-1/2 cup caster sugar (don't use regular sugar, it won't dissolve well enough), 2 tsp corn starch (called corn flour in Australia), 1 tsp white vinegar, 1/2 tsp vanilla. For the topping, you'll also need cream for whipping and fruit.

The first part is really fun. Beat the egg whites until they start to form peaks, and then begin adding the sugar one tablespoon at a time.

It takes awhile, but you end up with the most gorgeous, shiny white concoction. Whip in the other ingredients. You then gloop that onto a lined baking tray. I used baking paper with a pencil-lined circle to mark my outline. I smooshed down the middle to make a bit of a crevice for the topping.

This bakes on low heat for about an hour and a half. When done, it should be lightly brown with no dark, syrupy peaks. The corn flour gives it the crunchy outside layer, which is decidedly the best part. 

OK, believe it or not, this is where things get tricky. At this point, the cake is very fragile, and exposure to cold air can make the pavlova implode in on itself, leaving it less beautiful than what you see here. The trick, apparently, is to let it cool in the oven with the door ajar so that the temperature change is gradual. This probably works super well ... as long as you don't accidentally slam the oven door shut. 

My pav went from gorgeous to sad (but still tasty) in a flash.

Thankfully, generous toppings hide a multitude of sins. 

Don't put the mixer away when you're done with the eggs. The middle section gets covered with whipped cream.

Then, choose your fruit. I saw a photo of a stunning pav covered with pomegranate. My friend Mimi's Christmas pav was a beaut with passion fruit and strawberries. I went with ...

... mango, kiwi, banana and passion fruit pulp, with lime garnish.

I feel like passion fruit is not well known in the States. It is wildly popular in Australia (in the U.S., raspberry is the most popular yogurt flavor. Here, I'd bet you that it is passion fruit). It is delicious. You can buy the pulp in cans, but since I was being experimental, already, I thought I'd go all out and see what happened if I bought the actual fruit.

I liked having the green kiwi fruit to contrast the abundance of yellow/orange.

All put together, I think it looked nice. Moreover, it tasted great. Personal preference, I would probably use something instead of bananas next time, as they are a fairly overwhelming taste ... but, I quibble. We ate it with enthusiasm, and I felt the warm, fuzzy sense of satisfaction that only a lovely baking project affords.