Live: From Australia

I'm waiting for guests to arrive, ready for Xmas lunch. Still havent opened the presents. We have a rule in our family that says no one opens their presents until everyone arrives. Arrival time? 1pm. Not fair.

Anyhoo, its time to introduce you all to an age old family tradition - the making of the Pavlova. Australians and New Zealanders have been arguing over who actually invented the Pavlova, b ut regardless of who invented it, its still a huge tradition here. The key is the topping of the Pavlova. It can often make the difference between a good Pavlova, and a bad one. Every year, I am in charge of making it, and I try and make the most bizarre, but aesthetically appealing topping as possible!

Wikipedia writes at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_%28food%29:

Pavlova is made by beating egg whites and salt to a very stiff consistency before folding in caster sugar, vanilla, and vinegar, and slow-baking the mixture to create the meringue. This makes the outside of the pavlova a crisp crunchy shell, while the interior remains soft and moist.

Pavlova is traditionally decorated with whipped cream and fresh fruit, notably strawberries, peach slices, passionfruit and/or kiwifruit. Raspberry is a popular topping in the United Kingdom, with the tartness of raspberries contrasting with the sweetness of sugar. Factory-made pavlovas can be purchased at supermarkets and decorated as desired, but rarely achieve home-baked quality. A commercial product is available that includes pre-mixed ingredients for baking the meringue shell, requiring only the addition of only water and sugar.

Leftover decorated pavlova can be stored in the fridge overnight, but will absorb moisture from the air and lose its crispness. Undecorated pavlova can safely be left overnight in the oven in which it was baked, to be decorated in the morning.

Pavlova is a common addition to the table for social gatherings, such as parties or for Christmas lunches. It is a popular to offer when sharing a meal at someone's home, where the host has requested each guest to "bring a plate".

Note: No diet or fat-free products were used in the cooking of this pavlova.


Step One: Buy the base from the supermarkets (okay, its cheating, but who has time to make it from scratch, really?)







Step Two: Beat the cream til it "peaks" (note: fighting often occurs when the licking of the cream off the whisks begins - theres only 2 whisks - we only had 2 kids in our family, so fighting was often avoided.)






Step Three: Even out the cream over the base. Oh, and then lick the spatula afterwards too (dont forget to wash the spatula should you use it again!)






Step Four: Once the cream is spread out, thought must then go into the design of the topping.








Step Five: Voila!