pavlova

We have guests for dinner tonight, so both hubbie and I have been busy in the kitchen.  Hubbie is in charge of main course, and I’m in charge of dessert, so I whipped up one of my favourites, which always goes down well: a pavlova.

This creamy, meringue dessert (which was apparently made in honour of the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, in the 1920’s) can be made with various types of fruit but I prefer it with raspberries.  And since we have both fresh eggs, from our hens, and fresh raspberries in the veggie garden . . . I literally had most of the ingredients to hand ^^

You can find recipes on the internet for this delicious, and very easy dessert. I used the recipe I inherited from my Mum which was ripped out of a magazine in the 1970s.

If you fancy making one here are the ingredients.

For the meringue base you will need: 3 large egg white, 150g sugar, 2 teaspoons of cornflour and half a teaspoon of white vinegar.  I didn’t have any white vinegar, so I used rice vinegar instead which works just as well.

For the creamy filling: 300ml of whipping cream, 350g of fruit and 1 tablespoon of sugar.

For the meringue – you whip up egg white until stiff,  then whisk in sugar, cornflour and vinegar (in that order).  Trace a circle (with a plate) on a piece of greaseproof paper and brush lightly with oil.  Spread half the mixture on the greaseproof paper, to make a base. Then use a piping bag and nozzle to build up the wall of your “nest”.  I don’t have a piping bag so I just use a plastic freezer bag, cutting off a small corner for my “nozzle”.

The uncooked base will look something like this.  Bake for 1 hour (275°F/ 140°C).

It will take on a lovely pinkish/beige colour as it cooks.  Leave to cool down before removing greaseproof paper.

For the filling: Whip cream.  Crush your fruit (keeping the prettiest to one side for decoration) , with a spoonful of sugar and gently incorporate into the whipped cream.  Pour into the meringue case, and decorate with remaining fruit.