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Bugger the barbie — How to make a Pavlova!
[Photo by Jonah Manning]
Pavlova is considered the ultimate Australian meringue dessert, even though it was probably invented by a New Zealand hotel chef in 1926. One thing Australians and New Zealanders do agree upon is that this splendidly light, crisp and foamy concoction was created to commemorate the time when the legendary Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova graced our shores on her world tour.
I always find Pavlova to be a hit. Unlike other food trends, their popularity with Australians (and even those abroad) has not waned.
The addition of passionfruit pulp is all-important; the tart quality of this tropical fruit provides a perfect foil to the sugary meringue. Passionfruit are plentiful and inexpensive in Australia. They are easy to grow in this Southern Cali climate (although they do need several weeks to ripen on the vine), but they are fairly difficult to find. Gelsons usually stocks passionfruit at $2-3 apiece. Ouch! If you decide to bear the exorbitant cost, pick ones that are wrinkly, but that don’t look too dried up.
Pavlova is made by beating egg whites and cream of tartar to a very stiff consistency. You then add superfine sugar, fold in the vanilla, vinegar and cornflour then slow-bake the mixture to create a large meringue cake. The slow-cooking creates a crisp, crunchy shell on the outside of the pavlova, while the interior remains soft and moist.
[Photo by Pauline]
Recipe follows.
Ingredients:
4 egg whites
a pinch of cream of tartar
1 cup superfine sugar
1 t(easpoon) cornflour
1 t white wine (or champagne) vinegar
1 t vanilla essence (or scrape the seeds from a dried vanilla pod.)
About ½ pint heavy cream, whipped
the pulp of 2-3 passionfruit
1-2 bananas, sliced or sliced strawberries (optional)
Method:
TIP: Ensure your oven is preheated for at least 10 mins before cooking. Have all your ingredients measured and laid out before you commence. Eggs should be at room temperature and carefully separated, with no trace of yolk. Maybe make some chocolate pots de creme or sauce sabayon or mayonnaise with those yolks…
Whip egg whites and cream of tartar, building to high speed, until they are stiff and soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, a little at a time, beating well to dissolve each addition.
Add the cornflour with the last amount of sugar. Meringue will be smooth and glossy.
By hand, gently fold in the vinegar and the vanilla, lifting as you go to preserve the fluffiness of the meringue.
Use a sandwich tray, covered with lightly greased baking paper.
Pile the meringue in the middle of the tray, shaping the mixture into as high a dome as possible, or pie shell shape, as preferred.
TIP: Meringue will expand a little bit and crack as it is cooking. It may also sink a bit in the middle once cooled, but that’s the part you fill with cream, anyway.
Cook at 250 degrees for 1 & ½ hours. Turn off heat and let cool in oven for a further two or so hours.
Some people recommend turning the ‘pav’ upside down onto a serving plate before decorating, if you want a flat surface to work on. I think this idea is nuts — part of the appeal is the crisp outer shell which will become soggy when inverted.
Once cold, decorate with whipped cream (lightly sweetened with powdered sugar and vanilla essence) and passionfruit pulp. Also fresh, sliced strawberries or sliced bananas, if you really want to go overboard.
Serve to appreciative ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’
Thanks to my fellow foodbloggers for assisting me with their photos.
Pavlova FAQs
Q I wonder if it is possible to make smaller pavlovas, or if you need the size to get the crispy/chewy consistency?
A Actually, it doesn’t work. I tried to do a smaller one once and all I got was a large-ish meringue. Crisp all the way through. It’s tough to adjust the cooking time for the smaller item, but I suppose it could be done… But then again, I think you really do need the large volume to get that foamy middle and crispy exterior.
::STOP PRESS::
If you have two egg whites kicking around, halve the remaining ingredients and cook for ONE hour, plus requisite cooling period. I recently had a great success with a smaller pavlova!
Q My sister made one some months back, but I don’t remember whether she used parchment to line the cookie sheet, and whether or not she greased it. Can I use a Silpat mat instead?
A Hey — that’s an excellent question. Silpat does NOT work (unless you grease it, and who does that?) I had much better results with a greased piece of parchment paper (I used butter) that is bigger than your pav. I think a little of the butter seeped into the meringue, but it was negligible. The pav is such a fragile dessert, you really don’t wanna have to wrestle it off the cooking sheet.
Although there’s no reason you can’t grease a silpat, it’s just that you wouldn’t think to do that. I think the reason people use parchment for Pavlovas is that you can draw a circle on it and try to pile your meringue (as high as possible/feasible) within that circle.
My Mum used to have this cool ceramic plate with the Pavlova recipe written on it, as well as said circle to guide how big to make it, that she then baked the pav on. Remember, pavlovas spread a bit as they cook. But the higher or more compact the “dome” of meringue is, the more foam you will get inside. If you do a shallower pile of meringue, you will probably get a crispier result.
Best of luck with it! It certainly is a sensational dessert that people adore.
By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and also writes novels for 8-12 year olds.
Discussion
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I tasted this and can say that it’s a pretty fantastic summer dessert - not heavy at all. Kind of a cross between a meringue on the outside and angel food cake on the inside.
Yummy! I’ve had the pleasure of this delightful confection and it’s definitely worth a try!
Mmmm…… pavlova!
Was it named after the ballerina because it dances on your tongue?
I can personally vouch that this pavlova was delicious and transported me back down under, where I was first introduced to the divine dessert.
Thanks for the tips, I can’t believe that someone would really ruin the crispy goodness on the outside by flipping it over!
Just added a few FAQs to this post.
Hey everyone - a great tip is cooking your pav on an aluminium pie plate - this way you don’t have to try and get it onto a serving plate without breaking it - you just add your filling and serve!
It’s not a Pavlova related question…I was following an American recipe today and wasn’t clear if Heavy Cream was Whipping Cream or Double Cream. I’ve visited a few websites and it’s still unclear - can you help me at all?
Thank you
Well, according to wikipedia —
Whipping or light whipping cream (30 - 36% fat)
Heavy whipping cream (36% or more)
Double cream (48%)
I think I would use double cream, if I could get it.
Here’s a useful discussion of this topic on the chowhound home cooking board —
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/276900?query=heavy+cream&user_name=
ok… i made two perfect pavlovas for test, and the when i was mading the good one for the event the merengue came out all.. liquid… and the when i made new merengue, it was fine, i bake it, and when i take it out it collapses to a tin pancake….. what was wrong???
Oh dear, what a disaster. Pavlovas are kinda tricky to make. Did you follow my recipe, or did you use another one?
Perhaps my recipe is incomplete?
Here are some things to know about successfully making meringue:
1 Have everything measured out and ready before you start.
2 Preheat your oven.
3 Use superfine sugar.
4 Your separated eggs should be at room temperature and carefully separated, with no trace of yolk. This is crucial. Egg yolk in your white means they won’t whip up light and fluffy.
5 Make sure your electric beater bowl and beaters are clean and DRY.
6 Beat the whites slowly then increase speed until they stand in stiff peaks. They should hold their shape in the end of the beater, but don’t overbeat or they will become dry.
7 As soon as the whites are beaten sufficiently, gradually add all the other ingredients, as per the recipe above, and then place your pavlova directly into the preheated oven. If you leave beaten egg whites sitting around, they will deflate.
8 Remember to pile the glossy meringue mixture into a high, round dome on the lightly greased plate or cookie sheet.
9 Pavlovas need a fairly slow (low temp) oven in order to cook evenly. Do not try to hurry the cooking time. DO NOT open the oven door for hours! After it has cooked for an hour and a half, it needs to cool in the cooling oven for a further two or so hours.
10 Keep finished Pavlova away from draughts - and above all from moisture — until you are ready to cover with cream and serve immediately.
11 This delicate dessert must be made and served on the same day. It does not keep. For example, if I am taking one to a friend’s place for a dinner party, I will cook it in the morning and leave it in the oven until I’m ready to depart. You can put the Pavlova into an airtight container, if you have one big enough, for transporting. I then put it in the dining room or even their laundry during dinner (kitchen is too hot) before I top it with freshly whipped cream and passionfruit and present for dessert.
Hope this helps!
*Please tell me* if you can see where you made an error in the process. This is definitely a dessert that you may not achieve perfection with the first time.
Please Help!!! I left the pavlova over night in the oven. The next morning, it’s all mushy and sticky outside. It’s not cripsy at all. Please help me to fix it.
Thanks
Oh, dear. What a shame! Unfortunately, (much like a fallen souffle), there is no remedy for a mushy Pavlova. Meringue is deliquescent, meaning it will readily absorb moisture from the air around it.
Pavlovas are best eaten the day they are made.
I hope you give this fabulous dessert another try.
Hi MaxMillion,
We are a Pavlova obsessed family. It is my son’s favorite dessert and our favorite rendition of it is the one at Balthazar, a restaurant in New York City. I would say that I’ve tried to replicate it about 5 times. Let me first say that there are some differences between your recipe and the Balthazar recipe.
1. No corn flour
2. No cream of tartar
3. Pavlova is smaller…serving size
4. Center is mascarpone mixed with thick yoghurt which gives a delicious tartness.
OK. Here is the issue. They turn brown. Not burned…they get slightly brownish. They always taste delicious but they do not look like this puffy beautiful thing which I adore. They also get soft…versus hard on the outside and soft on the inside.
So I’m going to try your recipe. To the letter. I want to know how to avoid the whole “brown thing”. I want mine to be white like the ones at Balthazar.
I’ll welcome your suggestions.
Beautiful suggestion BTW, the passion fruit. LOVE it. Will definitely do it this way.
thanks for sharing…we are OBSESSED with Pavlova.
Hiya — thanks very much for your comment. I think I know what the deal is. Some recipes call for a very hot oven then tell you to reduce the heat at some stage (usually when you put the pavlova in at the beginning). This tends to result in a “toasted” appearance.
If you follow my listed baking instructions you are more likely to get an off-white result, which I prefer.
Do let me know how it went!
I have purposely left my Pavlova in the oven (with door ajar) over night twice now. I made one last night from a new recipe and it is sitting in my pantry ready to be dressed, it is still crisp. This one I cooked for 2 hours I preheated at 170C then immediately turned it down to 120C and cooked for 2 hours, my Pavlova didn’t brown at all and had a really nice crispy crust on it with only slight cracks and no sinking whatsoever. I will let you know how it tastes tonight.
Never take the Pavlova straight out after baking and NEVER open the door during cooking as it will collapse, I think too high a temperate may cause this too? I was also told as a kid that there should not be any sudden noise when cooking your pav.
I made one for this xmas just gone which was the first time I have made one in many years. I used a recipe from a food mag I buy and this was where it was suggested to leave pav in oven ajar over night for best results. Whilst the crust was really good it did collapse during cooking so I decided to find another recipe and try again which looks quite successful this time, I still left it in the oven overnight though.
My only problem this time is the bottom is sticking to the baking paper so I will have to leave it on there, I almost wrecked it trying to get it off. What I used to do was cook my pav on the plate I served it on, I will do this next time. The only reason I didn’t this time is because I didn’t have a container that a plate would fit in, so off to buy a bigger container though with all that sugar I think I will wait for sometime before I make another one!
I’m looking for a Pavlova plate with the recipe printed on the plate. Do you know where to find one?
Thanks,
Linda
How long would I have to cook a pavlova that has 12 egg whites in it. I have a big family
^ hmmmnnnn - tough question! The four-egg white one I make cuts up nicely into either 6 or 8 slices.
Personally, I would be too afraid to experiment with trying to make a giant one, so in your case I would make three 4 egg white ones and cook them all at the same time.
BUT I do think — and I am only hazarding an educated guess, here — that the cooking time corresponds with the height or pile of meringue you are cooking.
Also important to note, I found when I halved the recipe, I cooked the smaller *but just as tall* pavlova for 1 hr rather than the usual 1+1/2 hrs, and that worked out very well. In other words, I halved the recipe but did 2/3rds on the cooking time.
So here’s what I would try:
I would get a very large baking sheet, preferably one with small, raised sides, and attempt to compose a long, rectangular pavlova, while maintaining a good height of approx 4-5 inches.
*** Bear in mind - the meringue does spread a fair bit when cooking, so try to allow two or so inches around it***
Again, this is pure guesswork.
Then I would still cook your large pavlova for 1+1/2 hrs, or possibly 2 hrs.
Remember, the longer you cook a pavlova the more it will harden into meringue all the way through and not maintain that unique and desirable soft, foamy interior.
So, I really don’t know if any of this speculation will help you, but please do report back with your results!
Why do my pavs keep coming out sticky? I have yet to get one (even a Pavlova Magic) to come out crispy. It begins that way but by the time I am serving (3-4 hours later) it is a sticky mess. Tasty, but not crispy. Help!
^ Janet- I am going to let Max give the official ruling on this, but I think you have answered your own question. Instead of waiting 3-4 hours, I think that you need to serve the Pavlova soon after cooking. The Egg/sugar mixture is pretty hygroscopic, meaning that it sucks in available moisture from the air. That makes your sugar sticky instead of crispy. Have you tried eating them right away, instead of waiting?
No…but that will be the next thing I try…I have to get this right…my (Australian) mother-in-law is coming to visit soon…It would be nice to “impress” her! Thanks!
Thanks, Jonah — you’ve provided the right answer.
Janet, perhaps you live somewhere reasonably humid? Perhaps you covered the pavlova in plastic or put it in a plastic box and some residual warmth made the container humid?
Here’s what I do — I allow 1&1/2 hrs for baking and about 3-4 or so hours for cooling within the *still closed* oven.
I then leave the pavlova somewhere cool and dry, usually our laundry (!) until it’s time to top with freshly whipped cream and fruit and serve immediately.
Meaning, try to time it all so that your dessert is ‘resting’ in the cool & dry place for preferably no more time that it takes to eat the main meal.
I have been known to transport the pavlova from the oven to a friend’s place (nearby), taking it to their laundry or dining room, leaving it uncovered or sometimes covered with a thin (i.e. not heavy) clean, dry teatowel (aka dishcloth).
But yeah, I try to serve it within a couple of hours of the cooling period. I found you *can* serve it before it has fully cooled (under duress…), but it might be a little on the chewy side…
If you follow my recipe to the letter and also take on board all these suggestions, you should achieve success.
Best of luck with your next attempt! Please report back!
To Linda Bednarski…did you find out where to get the Pavlova Plate with the receipe on it? I have also been looking for one, so would also like an answer to that question.
^ If I find a good source for recipe-printed Pavlova Plates, when I am back in Oz, I’ll definitely post a link.
Or I suggest you try ebay.com.au from time to time.