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PAVLOVA RECIPE

Pavlova is arguably the national dessert of both New Zealand and Australia, and is basically a large pillow of meringue covered with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Purists insist kiwi fruit must be in the mix for authenticity, but not everyone agrees. It was named in honor of the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova; never having seen her dance, one can only assume she was as light and delicate as her namesake!

 Before you begin, a few tips:
Don't make the pavlova on a muggy day. The moisture in the air will prevent the egg whites from whipping to their peak.
If you're not serving the pavlova immediately, store the meringue in an airtight container (up to 3 days) and top with the cream and fruit just before serving, so that the meringue doesn't become soggy.
All the recipes I saw called for superfine sugar. To make your own, put the sugar in a food processor and pulse until the crystals are half their original size. Easy!

Make sure your bowl and beaters are clean, clean, clean and free of any grease or oil.
This is a good recipe and the pavlova is a lot better than the store-bought variety.
Prep time:   40 minutes
Cook time:   1 hour
Servings:   1 pavlova

Ingredients:  substitutions needed depending upon where you are
3-4 Egg Whites
1 cup caster sugar  (NOT powdered sugar, but very fine. Try Domino's Superfine in a box)
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon cornflour (corn starch)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Directions:
Beat egg whites until stiff (forms peaks). Add sugar - heaped tablespoon at a time - beating well after each addition. Then beat for at least 10 minutes. This is very important. Then sprinkle vinegar, cornflour and vanilla essence into mixture. Beat until blended.

Coat baking paper with water drops to allow baking paper to stick to sides of tin and pile pavlova mixture in 20cm circle.
Heat oven until 300°F (or 150°C). Put pav in oven and immediately turn oven down to 250°F (or 125°C) and leave for 1 hour. Then turn oven off and leave in oven until cold. (Usually overnight). This makes a nice crust on outside of pav.

Before serving, cover pav in whipped cream and decorate with your favourite fruit.