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.”
Good morning C 🙂
Im very happy you are enjoying California – your newest addition is just beautiful – he has such a button nose 😀 – *squeals*
And your pavlova is stunning – may I say your mother is a genius? I adore pavlova 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Aaahh a cutie. And yes I am talking about the newest member! But now my mind is back focusing on the really important – THE pavlova, aaaahhhhhhhhh and your recipe is fabytastic, I’d forgotten about adding a touch of vinegar. Right I’m off for an early night, a long day on the allotment awaits,wishing you safe and uneventful travels
The newest member of our family looks sooo cute
[groan] I do not need to be told that a) you’re in California and b) that it’s warm and c) that it’s dry, I am absolutely sick with envy! 😉 Your meringue (pronounced in this house as a mer-in-goo) is an absolute cathedral of a pavlova, stunning. Welcome to your newest addition! 🙂
The weather sounds perfect! And what a beautiful new addition to your family. Oh I miss babies! I’ve never heard of Pavlova, so this was fun to read about. Have a safe trip back and try and bring some of that warmth with you. 🙂
Lovely weather and congrats on the grandbaby 🙂
Your pavlova brings back such memories. My mother made magnificent pavs, and would decorate them with little wheels of kiwifruit or else strawberries, depending on the season. Yours looks a great success.
So beautiful, c! I’m sure the Pavlova is lovely, too, but there is nothing more perfect, more warm and precious and that so perfectly embodies love than a sleeping baby. Beautiful photo. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, and congratulations to your family!
What a lovely shot of the newest love of your life!! Safe travels home – will you even recognize those wool-less wooly ones?
Thanks too for some tips on the perfect pav! I’ll be putting what I just learned into practice, soon!
Ooooooo! I’ve been working on Pav for the imminent fruit season. I’m no good at it, but with each batch of ice cream, I practice my meringue. The technique of starting out with the high temperature then lowering then cooling in the oven is uniquely southern hemisphere. The French keep a low oven temp and cook for hours. The Brits do something very similar. The Americans still think the meringue is a hip new move they saw on Dancing with the Stars. I’ve tried a version of your mama’s technique once and it worked like a charm. I can’t wait to try again today! Though room temperature eggs will be tough as it’s a cold day today. Maybe I can pop a few under my broody hen for some warmth. I go as slow as I can, but no you’re right, Celi, I need to go slower … no, I get it, I’ll go slower. ☺
Oh, I’m so glad that you have a new addition to your family too! I thought that We had a long way to travel to see our new additions but it’s a mere hop, skip and a jump compared to yours!
Christine
The bliss of a baby is so aptly, peacefully displayed in your photo. Just beautiful.
Missed you on the farm.
Beaut pic of the new baby Celi!
Make the most of the warm sunshine, and thanks for the pav recipe – going to try it out this weekend!
fantastic.. let me know how it goes.. c
The newest member of your family is so cute 🙂
I have never made pavlova before, I always worry that it will still smell slightly eggy
use good vanilla, it is not eggy at all, promise! c
I trust you C and I will try it real soon
It’s hard to say who looks sweeter- the baby or the pav. Lovely photos and such a lot of meringue wisdom. Enjoy your homecoming- it is such bliss to get back down to work after being away, isn’t it?