Everything was going so well, after numerous failed attempts over the years, trying to achieve what seemed like the impossible, I thought this was it.. this would be the perfect pav. I had turned off the heat and left the oven door slightly ajar. I left the house feeling confident and proud of my baking success, until we came home later that night to find the crack of all cracks had caused a crater effect on the top of my precious pavlova. After a tense few minutes trying to get the thing off of the baking paper, we heaped on the whipped cream and fresh strawberries and dug in... perfection.
I have scoured the internet for solutions and there are many conflicting methods. I can't yet tell you which one will work, BUT a Womens Weekly recipe said not to change the temperature when placing the Pavlova in the oven and when done, to leave the door ajar using a wooden spoon. Shall try this next time.
The ingredients...
4 egg whites (room temperature)
pinch of salt
225g castor sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Set oven to 180 C.
In a clean, dry bowl, beat egg whites and salt together until stiff peaks form. Beat in 1/3 of sugar and then the remaining sugar a tbsp at a time. Sprinkle in cornflour, vinegar and vanilla, beat until combined. Spoon the meringue onto a tray lined with baking paper. Spread out into a circle (about 15-18cm diameter) and smooth the top with a knife and create fancy swirls on the side if you so wish. Turn the oven down to 100 C and bake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave to cool with the door open just a smidge.
Now, I think we can be sure that the ingredients are not at fault here, it's the finicky temperature control that makes or breaks it. My mum has always used the method of turning the heat down when putting the pav in, but next time I will try keeping it the same temperature and a bit lower at 90 C. No harm in trying!
Good luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment