Julia Child states that “any party without cake is just a meeting”. And I totally agree. Now I know that a pavlova isn’t technically a cake, falling more into the meringue category. But it’s close enough.
We had friends over yesterday to watch the Wallabies play (we won!), where Cork Daddy dragged the telly outside, right alongside a line up of coloured eskies, fire pit roaring away in the background. Kids were running everywhere, this way and that and the only time we had any of them quiet was when they all sat still around the table, spooning nice big oversized spoonfuls of pav into their little mouths. I wish I’d taken a photo.
There’s nothing better than a good pav. Topped simply with whipped cream and fresh strawberries – its a real crowd pleaser. The perfect dessert to follow a couple of snags on the barbie.
This recipe uses six egg whites and makes a really good sized pav. It’s nice and spongey in the middle, crunchy on the outside, just the way you want it.
I’m sure Julia would approve.
big pav
6 x large egg whites
350 grams of caster sugar
1 x tablespoon of white vinegar
1 x tablespoon of cornflour, sifted
1/3 cup of icing sugar, sifted
Freshly whipped cream, strawberries and a few mint leaves, to serve
To make the whipped cream, pour 600ml (or thereabouts) of thickened cream in to a large mixing bowl (keeping in mind that I’m very heavy handed when it comes to whipped cream). Add a dash of vanilla extract and a tablespoon of icing sugar and whisk using hand held beaters until you have nicely whipped cream. (Be careful not to over whip here as you don’t want to make butter).
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees fan forced and line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
- Beat egg whites in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until soft peaks. One tablespoon at a time, whilst continuing to whisk, add the sugar until all combined and you have glossy stiff peaks.
- Turn mixer off. Add the vinegar, sifting the cornflour and icing sugar over the top and mix through on a low speed.
- Spread the meringue out on to the prepared baking sheet into an oblong shape. Turn oven down to 130 degrees and bake for one hour without opening the oven door. (Do set a timer on your phone so you don’t forget).
- Once the hour is up, turn oven off and leave the pav in the oven with the door ajar. Let it stay in there until the oven has cooled and the pav is cool. (This stops the pav from collapsing due to a too sudden change in temperature).
- Once completely cooled, top with lashings of freshly whipped cream and strawberries with a couple of sprigs of mint.
If you make this recipe I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment below or even better – post a pic on insta for us all to see!
lo's kitchen 