Best Australian Pavlova Recipes

AUSTRALIAN PAVLOVA

Steps:

• Place the egg whites in a small mixing bowl and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, draw a 10 inch circle on a piece of wax paper and place (writing-side down) on a baking sheet. Variation: Draw 10 four inch circles on the wax paper.
• Add vanilla and cream of tartar to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until very stiff peaks form and sugar is almost dissolved (about 5 minutes).
• Using the back of a spoon, spread meringue onto the circle, building the sides up to form a bowl.
• Bake in a 300oF oven for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven and let shell dry in the oven, with the door closed for one hour. Remove the shell from baking sheet and pull off wax paper. Store in an airtight container. Will keep indefinitely.
• The traditional filling is simply fresh fruit of your choice and whipped cream and topped with fruit sauce. Another good one is ice cream, nuts, fruit and sauce ("banana split").

AUSTRALIAN PAVLOVA

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 275 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and draw an 8-inch circle as a guide for the pavlova. Turn paper over so pencil is facing down. Sprinkle a small amount of extra corn starch lightly on the circle so pavlova does not stick.
• 2. When separating eggs, be careful there is NO yolk in the whites as this will keep whites from beating properly. In a large very clean bowl, beat whites and pinch of salt til glossy and softly peak. Do not overbeat. Add the superfine sugar 1 Tbsp at a time until mixture makes firm, glossy peaks, but is not dry. Sift corn starch softly over whites and fold in with lemon juice and vanilla.
• 3. Spoon mixture over the circle, mounding in center and then spread outward to make a circle with a slight depression in the center. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven and cool in oven for 2 hours. Store in airtight container. Best if served the same day. If it cracks or sinks, fill with cream when finishing just before serving.
• 4. Remove parchment paper and place pavlova on cake stand or plate for serving. Just before serving, beat the cream with the powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Fill depression across the top of pavlova with the whipped cream and sprinkle cream with your choice of fruit. Sliced strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, raspberries, fresh pineapple, passionfruit or what you like. Do not add cream and fruit ahead of time as will make the meringue soggy.

AUSTRALIAN PAVLOVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Trace around a 9 or 10 inch round pan onto the paper to make a guide for spreading the meringue.
• In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar and salt. When mixture is stiff and sugar and salt appear to be dissolved, add the vinegar and vanilla.
• Spread mixture onto parchment paper, using the circular guide.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

AUSTRALIAN MARSHMALLOW PAVLOVA SLICE

Steps:

• Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition until all sugar is dissolved. Add vanilla and vinegar, beat further 1 minute. Spread meringue into buttered, wax-paper lined 11" x 7" pan which has been lightly floured. Bring paper over sides of pan so it is easy to remove slice when cooked. Bake at 300F for 45 minutes or until meringue is crisp and has a hard shell.
• Lift out carefully on to wire rack to cool. (You will notice the top of the pavlova has fallen slightly, giving room for the topping.) Trim edges with sharp knife.
• Beat the cream until soft peaks form, spread cream over top of meringue. Peel bananas, cut into diagonal slices, put into the lemon juice to keep their colour. Hull strawberries, cut in half. Peel kiwi fruit, cut into slices. Remove pulp from passionfruit.
• Heat strawberry jam in small saucepan, push through sieve to remove seeds, brush jam over strawberry halves to give a glaze.
• Arrange banana slices, strawberries and kiwi fruit decoratively on top of pavlova, spoon passionfruit pulp over bananas. Whip remaining cream, pipe decoratively around edge of pavlova.

AUSTRALIAN PAVLOVA

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 225ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and trace a 9 inch circle on the paper.
• 2. Beat eggwhites until stiff peaks form. Add superfine sugar gradually. Beat for a total of about 10 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Add cream of tartar. Beat for 1 minute. Spoon mixture onto circle. Using a spatula, shape into a circle with high sides. Make ridges up the sides.
• 3. Bake for 1 hour or until firm. Turn off the oven. Allow pavlova to cool in oven with door slightly ajar.
• 4. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.
• 5. Place pavlova on a serving plate. Top with whipped cream mixture. Arrange fruit on top. Serve.
• 6. NOTE: In the US, powdered sugar, or confectioners sugar or icing sugar (used in the whipped cream) is sugar with added cornstarch. It often comes in a bag similar to brown sugar. However, the sugar used with the egg whites is super-fine sugar which is granulated sugar, but much finer. If you can't find it in your local store, you can make your own by putting regular granulated sugar in a blender and pulsing it for a few seconds. I've also used my immersion blender to turn regular sugar into super fine sugar. I can sometimes find it in the baking section of a store and it comes in a carton like 1/2 gallon of milk.