Pavlova - Home Made and Fool Proof

Perfect Pavlova

When you leave the supermarket car park there is a sign stating 

"trolley wheels will lock if taken past this point ".

Every time I see this I am tempted to push a trolley past this point

just to see if the trolley wheels really will lock.

Yesterday I had customers who had come to collect their order

and knowing they did not drive I was intrigued as to how they would get their 2 x 20kg boxes home.

Out the front of our shop proudly stood a borrowed trolley.

"The Coles ones lock but not the Woolworths or Aldi trolleys" I was informed.

So now you too know, some trolley wheels lock when taken too far from the shop.

If only all questions were as easy to answer as this one.

A friend asked me recently how to cook a pavlova that is hard on the outside yet soft on the inside.

Here is my response and I trust these guidelines are helpful;

Pavlova Recipe

5 egg whites (185 gram in weight)

185 gram castor sugar

4 teaspoons white cornflour

1 teaspoon white vinegar

# See note below

Preheat oven to 150 Celsius.

Separate the egg whites from the yolks and weigh them.  (I used the yolks to make Zabaglione)

Here I used 5 egg whites with a total weight of 185 grams.

Put these into your mix master and blend at high speed for about 3 minutes, or until soft peaks form.

Measure out an equal amount of castor sugar (185 grams) and add 1 tablespoon at a time to the egg whites. 

Do this at about 30 second intervals to ensure the sugar is incorporated, until all of the sugar has been added.

Make sure there is no sugar stuck to the inside bowl, you want it all mixed well.

Continue to beat on high for another 3 minutes.

Rub a little mixture between your fingertips to make sure all of the sugar is "dissolved" in the egg mixture.

Take out bowl, add 4 teaspoons cornflour and 1 teaspoon white vinegar and gently fold through.

Place on paper lined tray and place on the bottom shelf of the oven.  

Cook with only top element on, or as with my oven, I can cook with fan only (NOT fan forced but just fan).

Rotate tray after 20 minutes  Bake for approx 40 minutes total until the outside is a light golden brown and the inside is still soft.

Remove tray from oven and let pavlova cool on the bench.

When cool - Decorate with whipped cream and fresh, seasonal fruit.

Here I used just picked passionfruit, strawberries and bananas.

#  Note:  If using 4 egg whites, approx 150 grams, add 150 grams castor sugar, 3 teaspoons cornflour and                 1 teaspoon vinegar, cook for approx 35 minutes.

Buon appetito, Enjoy Merryn