Pavlova

“It’s as good as any I have tasted, and better than most. The secret is in the vinegar, it makes the centre soft, like marsmallow, while the outside is a crisp baked meringue. In Australia we form a well in the centre prior to baking so it can be filled with fresh fruit (sliced banana, strawberries, Kiwi fruit and then covered in passionfruit pulp, double cream etc.), just prior to serving.The name comes from the ballet dancer of the same name in the early 1900’s. There is some dispute as to who actually created this dish for her originally, with hotel restaurants in New Zealand and Australia both claiming to be the originators. Who cares, it is devine decadence.”

“My friends from the land of Oz, said that it was as near perfect as they have ever eaten.”

“I made this recipe last night, and seven perfect pale beige mini-pavlovas were waiting for me in the cooled oven this morning.However, I only used a half cup of sugar, and they’re still a lot sweeter than I’d like.(I use only one tbsp per egg white to make meringue for lemon pie, and that’s plenty sweet for me.)Sweetness is a matter of taste, however; the method works fine, and is easy!
Following somebody’s tip somewhere, which said to only add as much water as needed, I added only half the water, waiting to see if the rest was needed, but the mix ended up firm enough to spoon into nest shapes to hold the cream and fruit, so I didn’t add more.I think that the amount of water needed is something each cook needs to play with, and it’s probably affected by humidity, altitude, freshness of egg whites, and phase of the moon!(37% humidity in the house, 3600′ elev., eggs laid the same morning, last quarter moon 😉 )
On a hunch (and lacking tinfoil), I baked the pavs on parchment paper on ungreased cookie sheets, and they popped off perfectly, no residue, crumbs, goo, cracking, or tearing.I’ve wrapped most of the pavs in paper to absorb any moisture (hah!), then in plastic, and now they’re in a sealed cookie tin in the freezer so nothing crushes them…apparently they can be frozen for up to a month.
North American readers, please make sure that you use corn STARCH, and not corn FLOUR that you’d use to make tortillas!Happy munching!”

“Thanks for the recipe, this is from the Edmonds Cookbook in New Zealand, which I think most people there seem to own.The pavlova is meant to crack, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be white (it will be a light golden colour).It is important to add the sugar slowly and thoroughly beat it in before adding further sugar – I add it a heaped teaspoon at a time & this makes the pav light & fluffy (plus it doesn’t seem to collapse).It is also important to not open the oven door at any stage, you need to leave this in the oven until the oven is cold.”

“This is my go-to dessert recipe! It always gets rave reviews. I frequently use regular granulated sugar, poured in very slowly, and it’s never failed! Beautiful, light dessert.”

“Bloody beautiful mate!Made for the Australia Day Celebrations & Menu Competition”

“Thank you for posting this great recipe – I was a little concerned that it was too runny when I poured it out for baking but it came out beautifully. Covered with whipped cream and decorated with fresh raspberry pulp, sliced mango, kiwi fruit & bananas it was delicious!”

“I’ve lived in New Zealand for over 20 years and this is the first pavlova I’ve made. This recipe is very easy and tasted great. I divided the recipe into sixths but I think eighths would have been better for individual portions. There wasn’t any castor sugar in the supermarket on December 23 (pavlovas are very popular on Christmas day in New Zealand) so I just used regular sugar but the result was fine. Next time I would lower the temperature, 150 C was too hot for individual pavs. After covering in whipped cream you couldn’t tell the pavs were overly browned.Thanks for posting.”

“yummy!”

“So delicious and yet simple to make. When scooping the mixture onto the pan prior to baking, I try to keep it as thick and together as possible (though it most likely will deflate towards the end of baking). The whipping cream topping is easy: a carton of heavy whipping cream beat to death with a couple spoons of sugar and a tad vanilla to taste. Normal sugar works in place of caster, just add gradually and blend well. I also use regular cornstarch. It’s a hit every time with kiwi and strawberry.”

“Excellent!!.. This receipe was so easy to follow, rose to perfection even tho it cracked the tiniest bit in the centre it didnt flop and the crack got easily covered with all the cream and fruit. Centre was very soft and sweet.Kids absolutely devoured it as did the adults. This is too good a pav so much so that it wont last more than one evening!!..”

“Came out perfectly. I made as some large cupped cookies. I was unsure whether the pavlova would stay crisp in the humid Maryland summer but it came out fine. I kept in a paper bag in the oven and the pavlova’s stayed crisp for a couple days.”

“This was my first time making a Pavlova. I got 6 generous servings not 4 as the recipe suggested. I loved the taste but it did not present well. When I tried to remove the greased paper from the pavlova so as to slide it on to a serving dish, it all but disintigrated. It was just too brittle. Maybe I did something wrong. However this did not take away from its fabulous taste. A light and refreshing dessert.”

“Yummy,one of my favourite, this recipe is very easy, I did not have time to cool it in the oven so I took it straight out and it didn’t make any difference,I love the marshmallow inside, great recipe, thanks for posting.”

“Absolutely marvelous!! This is the same recipe my Mum always used to make.”

“DH is british, and this is a HUGE favorite for our neighbors over the pond too. I hadn’t tried it until now, I had seen my favorite Chef, Nigella Lawson making it with Passion fruit. I chose to make it with fresh strawberries and nectarines. LOVE IT!”

“Has a yummy marshmallow like soft centre.It does take a while to beat and does crack so will try the helpful hint of adding a teaspoon of rosewater to the mixture.”

“really yummy and recipe is perfect! just took for ever to beat!a teaspoon of rosewater added to mixture helps it to stop cracking!”

“this desert is yum!! i made it last christmas. i have 1 question though, what color is it suppose to look like when finished? mine was a tannish, caramel color, and i was told it should have been white, although i don’t know how it could turn out white, since sugar turns caramel when cooked.unless i did something wrong.any help would be appreciated”