Pavlova Christmas Wreath

Luscious wreath-shaped pavlova with cherries and berries

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
pinch of salt
115g caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon malt vinegar
300ml cream
500g fresh berries and cherries

Directions:

Cut a length of baking paper about 90xm x 10cm wide. Make into a circle standing on its edge and secure with paper clips. The circle needs to be 25cm diameter. Cut another length of paper to form a smaller circle of 8cm diameter. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the large circle.

Beat the egg whites and salt until peaks form. Add the sugar a little at a time while beating until very thick and glossy. Sieve in the cornflour and gently fold in along with the vanilla and vinegar.

Spoon the mixture around the inside of the large paper ring to form a ring shape. At this point nestle the smaller rink in the center to help get an even ring.

Place in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 120°C. Bake for 2 hours. Remove from the oven and cool.

Very carefully remove the baking paper from the pavlova and place the pav on a plate. Whip the cream to soft peaks and spoon over the pavlova then arrange the berries and cherries on top.

Source: cuisine.co.nz

Christmas Berry Pavlova Wreath

This Berry Christmas Pavlova tastes as good as it looks and will be the highlight of your table! This stunning dessert is sure to impress your friends and family.

Ingredients:

Pavlova

1. 4 eggs whites (at room temperature)
2. Pinch of salt
3. 250g castor sugar
4. 2 tsp of cornflour (sifted)
5. 1 tsp white wine vinegar

Raspberry Coulis

1. 125g fresh raspberries
2. Juice 1/2 lemon
3. 1/4 cup castor sugar
4. 1/2 tsp of brandy (optional)

Topping

1. 300ml fresh cream – whipped
2. 1 x pomegrante
3. Raspberries, cherries and strawberries to decorate
4. Bunch of holly or fresh mint

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 120C. Line a tray with baking paper. Use a round baking tin to draw one large circle (22cm) then draw another circle inside it approximately 13cm wide.
2. Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar, a little at time until meringue is stiff and shiny.  Sprinkle over sifted cornflour, vinegar and fold in lightly.You should be able to up end the bowl at this stage with no fear of anything coming out.
3. Grab a dessert spoon and scoop a dollop of meringue. Place this dollop between the outside and inside line. Repeat until a ring of meringue is complete. Create a second layer of meringue on top of the first until second ring is complete. Flatten the top by smoothing the meringue.
4. Place meringue in oven for 2 hours at 120C. When time is complete, turn off the oven and leave meringue in the oven until completely cool. This is very important as there will be less risk of the meringue cracking and collapsing.
5. When cool, spread with whipped cream, drizzle on raspberry coulis then decorate with cherries, pomegranates, strawberries, raspberries and holly or mint.

Raspberry Coulis

1. Blend fresh raspberries, lemon juice and sugar together until sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside until required.

1. Make sure egg whites are at room temperature  - not straight from the fridge – it makes it hard to whip to right consistency
2. Add ingredients to meringue in small amounts and consistently as per recipe
3. Do not open oven while pavlova is baking
4. Do not take pavlova physically out of oven until completely cool

Even if you have a mini disaster with this, the beauty of Pavlova is that you can cover it up with lashings of fresh cream and your guests will be none the wiser!

 

Merry Christmas!

Source: mysquarefryingpan.com

Fruits Pavlova

Ingredients:

Pavlova:

6 Large Eggs (Whites Only)
300g Caster Sugar
1 tablespoon Cornflour
1 teaspoon Vinegar

Fruit:

100ml  Rum
1 cup Icing Sugar
1 packet Wooden Skewer (Soak in water for 1 hour before use)
1 Pineapple
1 Rockmelon
1 Mango
1 Star Fruit
2 Passionfruit
2 Under-Ripe Bananas
1 Nashi
1 pkg. Strawberry
1 pkg. Blueberry
1 pkg. Raspberry

To serve

300g Double Cream (whipped)

Directions:

Pavlova

Line two baking tray's (at least 2cm deep) with Aluminium Foil then a layer of Baking Paper.
Lightly spray with cooking spray.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
Continue beating and slowly add the sugar until the mixture looks glossy.
Sift in the cornflour and add vinegar.
Fold into mixture softly.
Turn mixture onto one of the prepared Baking trays.
Place tray onto flat plate of BBQ on low heat.
Close hood of BBQ or cover tray with foil.
Leave to cook for 12-15 mins.
After 12-15 mins place the 2nd baking tray over the meringue and invert over - place the 2nd tray back onto flat plate for another 10 mins

Fruit:

Preheat the BBQ char grill plate to medium heat.
Slice Mango and score cheeks
Peel banana and slice length ways into two halves
Peels & core pineapple - cut into slices and wedges
Slice Rockmelon, Starfruit & Nashi cut some into 2cm thickness and some into cubes
Arrange diced fruit onto skewers (previously soaked in water).
Dust all fruit to be char grilled with icing sugar and set aside until sugar melts.
Brush fruit lightly with Rum
Turn heat up and place all fruit onto char grill and cook for 2-3 minutes or until grill marks appear.
Remove and set aside.

To serve:

Once Pavlova is cooked - carefully peel back baking paper and cut into desired shapes - wedges, slabs etc
Arrange onto plates or platter with char grilled boozy fruits, scatter over berries, drizzle with more Rum and dust with icing sugar.

Serve with whipped cream.

Fenton's tips:

Before cooking fruit, clean the char grill by using a large sized paint scraper to scrape away any burnt residue and grit. Finish off by rubbing down the slats with a cut lemon. This will remove grease and savoury flavours. The paint scraper cannot only be used for cleaning but is also a useful and cheap BBQ tool.