Good morning from California!
It is warm here. Wonderful. And time to make our celebratory Pavlova. This is the quintessential down-under dessert. As you know I am from New Zealand and I am more than happy to claim Pavlova as a New Zealand ballerina dessert.
Pavlova is easy to make. However there are four things to remember when making your Pav.
1. Use room temperature eggs.
2. GO SLOW at every stage. Work easily and gently. You cannot hurry a Pav.
3. Heat your oven to 330(190C) then turn down to 300 (180C) when you place the pav in the oven.
4. The meringue rule: Turn the oven off after 45 minutes and allow The Pav to cool IN the oven. Do Not open the door, just walk away and let it finish cooking in the cooling oven.
Mama’s Pavlova.
- 6 egg whites at room temperature
- 2 cups ordinary sugar
- 3 tsp cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp chilled water
Remember.. take your time. Begin to beat the eggwhites on low then slowly increase the speed every minute or so until you are beating on high and they become light, fluffy and peaky.
Add the cornflour slowly as it is still beating on medium. Then the vanilla, and vinegar.
Turn to high again and slowly, a tiny bit at a time, add the sugar. Your mixture will become white with glorious meringue peaks. Then right at the end, add the cold, cold water. I don’t know why Mum added water but there you are, this is how she made it.
I cooked the pavlova in a paper lined spring form cake tin. So gently transfer your mixture to the tin and carefully place in the lower half of an oven set to 320, drop it to 300. Cook for 45 minutes. Then turn the oven off and leave to cool in the oven.
It was served with fresh California strawberries and unsweetened cream.
Though the newest member of our family had way better things to do than scoff pavlova with its marvellous mix of marshmallow and crunch.
Good morning. I hope you are all well in all your corners of the world. Things are good at the farmy. Though when I spoke to Our John yesterday he said he was lighting the fire as it was freezing cold and windy. But we did get 3/4 an inch of rain. And on top of all his work, he had the shearer man turn up quite out of the blue to give the sheep a haircut. Good for the sheep. But annoying for us as I was going to photograph that process for you. It is amazing to see a sheep emerge from all that wool. So now the weather can warm up over there thank you very much!
I am off again into the treadmill of plane travel early tomorrow morning. Then on Tuesday you and I will fall back with relief into our usual routine of daily chores and early morning posts. Until then. Good morning and enjoy your pavlova!
Oh and by the way, it is calm here in Cali. No wind, and forecast to be 90 degrees! Lovely.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
76 responses to “Mama’s Pavlova. The Secrets.”
Must be strange being so relaxed:)
It took me about 24 hours to relax properly, I kept scanning the horizon for trouble!! Morning roger..c
Your pavlova looks divine, but the sweet baby looks like an angel! Congratulations Celi!
Looks fantastic – I can just imagine the delicate crunch!
i have never made a pavlova but it is now on my summer baking list! have a safe trip!
Celi, the pavlova looks amazing I just want to dive in. I cannot wait to put the recipe to the test, but it needs patience so I suppose I shall try this next Sunday. Thanks for sharing “Mamas recipe”.
Celi, I will apply all of your golden rules when I next make a pav.
Looking forward to having you back home on the farmy.
🙂 Mandy
Nothing beats a good pavlova!
I think I have had that before and didn’t know what it was. Interesting and now I have to remember where, when, who…
Do you do anything with your wool? If not, would you like a little spun up? I’d be happy to, especially from a good sheep like Mama :-).
What a wonderful idea, in fact I now have two Dorset fleeces from a very well fed Hairy MacLairy. The Somerset (Mama) is a bit coarse. I would give you a fleece or pay you, if you could spin a little for me to make a few hatties for the family esp our new baby! (I have two full long Dorset fleeces now but I need to pick them over). This is a tremendous offer. I am still waiting to pick up a spinning wheel from NZ in Nov. My email is celima.g.7@gmail.com . Maybe we should get in touch! Thank you.. c
Glad to hear you’re enjoying California…….sounds warm…..not so warm up here in Canada!
you are having a long cool spring, so is illinois,summer must come soon though! c
Oh, my. Such a cute baby!
Morning Yummy! is it still cold up your way? c
Its cold here again also. Two night of bitter cold and wind. I’m ready for warmth! Thanks for the pav lesson it turned out just right!!!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Yep, slow and steady wins the pavlova! c
2 sweets= 1 lovely post. She is just gorgeous and full of peace.
J
I am so glad i got out here at last! Morning Jess!
Oh, SQUEE! BABY!!!
Even with all the chaos, I can’t help but adore them…Marvelous photo.
Oh, and DO send Sarah (The Crazy Sheep Lady) your fleece. Don’t know if you read her blog or not, but you’d love it. I read, but seldom comment over there. (there seems to be a compatability issue with her format and my computer) Do check her out, and all the fine things she does with her sheep.
After you tear yourself away from that sweet little dumpling, naturally… 😉
Sweet soft baby love! Oh g! I mean c… You lucky, lucky gal! Give a hug for me, please:) pavlova is one of my fav desserts.. It’s that glossy whipping I adore! Thanks for your tips… I did t know about those ones! Xo Smidge (not a G Smidge)
Is it okay to hack my computer with an ax to get to that recipe? and eat the virtual merangue