Foodie Friday - Pavlova

Tuesday is Australia Day, which means lots of yummy Australian food will be on the menu as everyone breaks out the BBQs and lamingtons to celebrate our Aussie pride. And what is more Aussie than pavlova? Below is my favourite pav recipe (courtesy of the Common Sense Cookbook), and my favourite pav topping. Who said you had to top it with banana, kiwi fruit and strawberries?

Pavlova
Makes 1

4 Egg whites

Small pinch of salt

175g castor sugar

1 teaspoon cornflour

½ teaspoon of vinegar

Preheat the oven to 140oC

Put egg whites into large, clean mixing bowl, add the salt, and whisk until they form stiff peaks. Whisk in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, to make a soft, glossing meringue. Whisk in the cornflour and vinegar.

Pour onto a cornfloured or papered baking sheet or ceramic plate

Bake for 45 minutes on middle shelf of oven, then turn off the heat and let it go cold.



Chocolate, Macadamia & Pear Pavlova
Makes 1

1 unit Pavlova mix from above recipe

Thicken cream

Vanilla bean

2 blocks chocolate

Zest 1 orange

½ teaspoon ground ginger

1 tin pears in syrup

Macadamia nuts

Make the Pavlova as per instructions in recipe above, making a largely flat shell. The meringue should be crisp on the outside, but still chewy on the inside.

While meringue is cooking, put the macadamias on a baking tray, and place on bottom shelf of the oven until toasted.

When meringue has cooled completely, place thickened cream and the seeds from the vanilla bean into a bowl and whip for a short while.

Melt the chocolate over a low heat, with the rind, ginger, and some of the syrup from the fruit.

To construct, pour the cream over the meringue, it doesn't have to be entirely covered. Drizzle the chocolate mixture over generously. Place pieces of pear at random on top, then crush half of the nuts, and sprinkle both whole and fragments over to finish.

This would work well with any fruit and chocolate combination, like raspberry and white chocolate, cherry and dark chocolate, apple and milk chocolate. The possibilities are endless.