This week, Roy decided that with Australia Day rapidly approaching he wanted to make a quintessential Australian dish – Pavlova. I pointed out to him that it is possible that the Pavlova is actually a quintessential New Zealand dish, but he was undeterred as, regardless of where the dessert was invented, it has become an important part of Australian culinary tradition. I couldn’t argue with that, but thought we should provide a recipe which was a little different to the norm – his Grandma’s one egg pavlova would be perfect. So this week, Roy Creates Deliciously Easy One Egg Pavlova.
You Will Need:
- 1 large egg
- A pinch of salt
- 1 cup of castor sugar
- 2 tablespoons of boiling water
- 1 tablespoon of vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- Cream and fruit to decorate
Note: Roy has not yet decorated his pavlova as he wants to use it on Australia Day itself, but he suggests you use whipped cream (sweetened with a little sugar and vanilla essence is tasty) and fruits of your choice. His Uncle thinks Pavlova should have banana, strawberries and passionfruit.
Also, as this is a very old recipe, Roy used Imperial sized spoons and measuring cups. If you are using smaller metric measures, you might need to add a touch more.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper. If you want a perfectly circular pavlova, draw a circle in pencil on the paper, and put the paper clean side up. You will be able to see the circle to guide you in spreading the meringue mix.
- Separate your egg, and discard the yolk. Make sure there is no shell or yolk in the white. Roy separates his eggs by cracking them into a bowl and lifting the yolk gently out of the white (he finds children can usually do this method too!)
- Beat the egg white and salt together until the egg white is stiff
- Gradually add the sugar, beating for another couple of minutes as you do so.
- Mix together the boiling water and vinegar. Gradually add the water and vinegar mix and continue beating until the egg white is quite thick and a glossy white
- Beat in the baking powder
- Spoon the meringue mix gently onto the prepared tray and mound into a circular shape (about 8 to 10 inches in size)
- Put the pavlova in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 120 degrees celcius.
- Bake for 1 to 1 and ½ hours until it looks cooked (it depends how crisp or how chewy you like your pavlova). Allow the pavlova to cool completely in the oven. Roy usually makes his pavlova late in the day and leaves it in the oven overnight.
- Store the pavlova in an airtight container until you are ready to serve and then decorate as you like.
- Enjoy!