From Scratch Pav Makers - HELP

After a dismal failure of my first pav I was wondering if people who make great pavs have any recipes or tips and tricks that you could please share.

It didn't rise much, outer shell WAS crispy, Marshmellowy centre

BUT I couldn't get the height I was after, maybe I over beat the eggs??

Who knows.

I used my Kitchen Aid with the metal whisk up on 6 to beat the eggs. Eggs were room temp, I used 1/4 cup of caster sugar per egg (6egg whites) vinegar vanilla essence went in After the sugar cornflour in last .... cooked on 150 for first 10min then as close to 110 as I could get my oven, no fan, and cooked for another hour.

I just did not get the height I was expecting, What did I do wrong? should I have piped the meringue mix??


Help please

I find wiping out the bowl with vinegar helps it mix better. Try that on the beaters as well. It removes any residual oil/fats that are in the bowl

add the sugar really slowly too ( thats my mums trick) then she turns the oven off and leaves it in with the door open for some reason, I will ask her why and get back to you on that. Mine usually work but I can't think of anything that you are doing wrong, maybe make your pre cooked pav smaller and higher, I usually make mine probably the size of a saucer. Were the eggwhites stiff peaks? Still sounds like it was yummy x

Also you have to pile it right up on the plate you cook it on as it will spread. If you spread it out, then it's going to spread more and flatten out a little bit. The recipe I got from MIL which never fails me, says to have the oven preheated to 205 deg C and then reduce that to 120 deg C and cook for 1.5hours and no longer. So maybe your temps were wrong?

I can't remember the recipe I use but it is very scientific about the temperatures of the oven. As someone else has mentioned you need to pile it up as it will spread. A friend of the family makes the most spectacular pave and she uses 10-13 egg whites! When I've done that and piled it, it has had the best result (ie height). Ice also found certain recipes are just plain crap so sometimes it takes a bit to find the right one for you and your oven. Great that you've got the marshmallow and crunch right though! Hope that helps some and I've made some sense.


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Nae I have feeling less fresh eggs work better..... Or I could have made that up in my sleep deprived state. :p

I have round 2 in the oven as we speak. I am trying a higher temp and used the electric hand mixer this time which I found MUCH easier to judge the consistancy. I will post picces later of just the meringue as I am undecided if I will dress this one.

Dantri - WOW 10-13 egg whites that must make a MONSTEROUS pav, I might have to give that one a go too ... do you still use the 1/4 of caster suger per egg??

Thanks everyone I wished I had have read this thread before I tried the second pav but will see how we go .

Nae x x

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Nae I have feeling less fresh eggs work better..... Or I could have made that up in my sleep deprived state. :p

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I have heard that too but beggers cannot be choosers and I only had fresher eggs left :lol:

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add the sugar really slowly too ( thats my mums trick) then she turns the oven off and leaves it in with the door open for some reason

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The recipe I use says do this too. My mum says you can only make a great pav if you have a great oven. I find to get good height on them isn't to spread the mixture wide, but to add height when pouring it out on the tray. So instead of it having say a 30cm diameter, mine will have a 10cm one and stays high ITMS.

less fresh egg whites work heaps better. even egg whites that are 1 week old are better, because the protein starts to break down. they become more watery, and are easier to beat. you get a glossier meringue.

make sure your utensils are very clean so they is no oil residue, this can lead to a flat meringue.
a pinch of salt at the beginning when beating the whites will help them aerate. add your vinegar and vanilla at the beginning. beat for a minute or so before adding the sugar. pour in the sugar slowly. whip until firm peaks form (you should be able to tip the bowl upside down and it wont run out). room temp egg whites work best (make sure there is no egg yolks at all in the whites, the fat in them causes the whites to not foam up).

i recommend piling it up also. you want to have it similar size to how you want it to turn out. it will rise a bit but not heaps. not sure on temps, but i know if you leave it at a low temp for a long time it will become dryer.

i dont think you need to pipe the meringue mix, unless you are doing cute individual ones. the piping will take out a bit of the air (not alot). prob best to spoon it out. once you have got it all out, wet a spatula and smooth it all over. the water stops it from sticking to the spatula.

it depends on the size your making as to how long you have to cook it for. your egg white: sugar ratio looks good. generally its 1:2 in terms of volume. that works perfectly. i havent done alot of pavs with cornflour, i'm guessing it helps to stabilise it. make sure you sift (sp?) it in, and fold it in carefully.

good luck for #2 :)

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Nae I have feeling less fresh eggs work better..... Or I could have made that up in my sleep deprived state. :p

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Yes, the best eggs are the ones that if you put them in water stand up on the ends and look as though they are about to start floating (of course don't use floating one's - they've gone off).

1/2 a teaspoon of cream of tartar put into the mixture almost doubles the amount too, I think cornflour can help increase volume too, but not as much.

These are some AWESOME tips ladies thanks so much ... I am going to have to wait for my chooks to lay some more eggs to try out some of these other ideas.

The overall plan ... if I can make it work, once I have a great base recipe to go by and have the technique down pat ..... is to try to make a bassinette shaped pav, in two stages so the cot bit will be the pav and then a meringue top for the hood. IF (and its a big if) I can get it to work the idea will be for a baby shower ... worst case scenario I can just do a normal pav :rofl: but I am sure there is a way to make it work, it will just take a LOT of practise.

SHame hubby is not much of a pav eater LOL.

Nae x x

You can go to speed 10 when beating egg whites with a KA. You might want to try the Vanilla Snow Pav. Recipe should be on the KA website.

Never had trouble using super fresh egg whites with my pav's.

I am reasonably happy with todays results, the height is OK but now thanks to all your tips I know how I can make it higher ;)

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...1683-img-2702/

I hope the link works ok I am terrible at these LOL. It does have soem cracks in the base probably because I got impatient and opened the oven door a few times while it was cooling.

Will take more photo's when Sopdet gets here and I have cream and strawberries on it.

Nae x