Aussie Treat: Pavlova Cake

Normally I don't have a sweet tooth and so I don't eat sweets all that much. I will crave it from time to time but rarely do you see me eating anything too sweet. I can't have any chocolates nowadays for some reason I can't have it. Well when I went to this Patesserie with a friend of mine to buy him some sweets there was this delightfully colorful cake that was displayed. I was intrigued.

When I asked the woman behind the counter what kind of cake it was she told me it was a Pavlova cake named after a famous ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova that toured here in Australia and in her honor this cake was made for her (New Zealand says that they made the cake first and it originated there so there's conflict in that part between the two countries). It's a meringue on the outside and fluffy white cake on the inside topped off with fresh fruits. It looked delish so I bought a piece and boy was my tastebuds in for a treat. It was so fluffy, light and not too sweet that normally would make me spit it out. I was hooked, I had 3 pieces of cake and bought a whole cake to go home with like a fatass I am.

But here is a recipe for the Pavlova Cake:

PAVLOVA CAKE:

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1 g salt
200 g white sugar
8 g cornstarch
5 ml lemon juice
295 ml heavy whipping cream
60 g confectioners' sugar
355 g fresh strawberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Draw a 9 inch circle on the parchment. An easy way to do this is to draw around the outside of a 9 inch pan with a pencil.

2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar gradually, while continuing to whip. Make sure sugar is completely dissolved. Mix together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cornstarch; lightly fold into meringue with lemon juice.

3. Spread a layer of meringue to fit circle on parchment, approximately 1/4 inch thick. With remainder of mixture, pipe or spoon swirls around the edges to form a shallow bowl shape.

4. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 1 hour. Turn off oven, but leave meringue in oven for an additional 30 minutes. When cool, the meringue should be hard on the outside, and slightly moist on the inside.

5. In a large bowl, combine the cream and half a cup of confectioners sugar, and whip until thickened. Decorate with fruit of your choice; strawberries are excellent.

Photo Credits and Recipe: http://www.aussiecynic.com/

http://www.allrecipe.com/ http://www.24-7partypaks.com.au/