Whats your best pavolva recipe?

[PinkPalace]

mmm pav..

[jackrose]

My mother is an Excellent Pav maker and she always advocates the use of a dash of vinegar (she recommends something like raspberry vinegar but ordinary white should do the trick) and the avoidance of cornflour. For some reason some recipes have cornflour in them which is definitley not needed.

One other hint is to be really thorough about mixing in the sugar. Mum mixes and mixes until the sugar is completely dissolved and this does take a bit of time. You test by rubbing a bit of the mix between two fingers. If you can feel grains of sugar, keep mixing. If you do this you will avoid those crystals of sugar in the finished pav.

yumm

[feeb]

Best Pav is one that is made for me

sorry i am not help never made 1 from scratch!!!

have bought shell and whipped cream and filled!! fav topping are grated peppermint crisp or strawberries and passionfruit pilp!!!!

[Shanti]

Yeah I'm interested in finding a great Pav recipe too! I've never made one and really want to.
Will keep an eye on this one. I don't wanna use the Pav eggs you can buy! I'd rather make from scratch too!

[krysalyss]

I have always thought stewed rubarb would be nice as a pav topper. But too lazy to try and make it! No, not true - we don't have an electric mixer and whipping egg whites by hand doesn't tend to motivate me.

[jackrose]

Ooooh absolutely make it from scratch! It is easy, you just have to follow the rules to get it perfect.

DD is now asleep so I have time to pass on the recipe we use in our family:

Preheat oven to 180, line a baking tray with baking paper and draw a 20 cm circle on it or turn a large spring form cake tin upside down and line with baking paper (when you mould the pav on to this tin the circle of the tin creates the guidelines)

Take:

• 6 egg whites - room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups castor sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp raspberry vinegar (or white vinegar)

Rule #1 absolutely no yolk must get into the egg whites
Rule #2 Your equipment must be spotless, any grease on the mixer etc will hamper the ability of the eggs to form peaks

Method
Beat the egg whites until they form satiny peaks (ie not too stiff). Add in the sugar very slowly and in a very thin stream while still beating.
Continue to beat (Rule #3 see mention in previous post) until all of the sugar has absolutely dissolved, by this stage the mixture be stiff and shiny.
Lightly fold in vanilla and vinegar so you don't disturb the lovely air in the mix .
Mound the mix onto the paper-lined tray within the circle and gently flatten the top and smooth the sides.

Rule #4 the oven temerature is essential to get right, you want a low cooking temp to get the best out of the meringue. It is worth remembering that all ovens are different and sometimes some experimentation is required to get the Pav just right.

Place the Pavlova in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 150 C. Cook for 30min then reduce the heat to a lower 120 C and cook for 45 min.
Turn off the oven, open the door slightly (behold your glorious pavlova) and leave the masterpiece in the oven to cool completly.

Once cooled, invert the pav onto a serving plate, smother the center with lightly whipped cream and your favourite topping. mmmmmmmm

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Stephanie Alexander explains that common faults in pavs are as follows:
If syrupy droplets form on the surface it is overcooked, if liqud is oozing out it is undercooked. She recommends that if your oven is an old one and does not adjust temps quickly, you should try cooking the pav for 2 hours at 120 C.

I realise that I may have made it sound really tricky, however, I swear it is a really easy thing to make, just follow the rules!

BTW if you want a smaller Pav:
4 egg whites : 250g sugar
But I am not sure why anyone would want that!

[jackrose]

I have always thought stewed rubarb would be nice as a pav topper. But too lazy to try and make it! No, not true - we don't have an electric mixer and whipping egg whites by hand doesn't tend to motivate me.

Hee hee,

My brother did do one by hand once, he was sooo desperate to have a Pav! We all chipped in and took turns at the mixing and it tasted absolutely beautiful!!

NB: yes, my brother who's cooking exploits so far involve opening packets of pre-made meals actually cooked a pav!