Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Strawberry Pavlova



The last few days have been absolutely Chockers! On Saturday, my daughter Paige had 8 of her giggling- and- screaming- all-at once girlfriends over for a movie marathon-sleepover Birthday Party to celebrate her turning 11. So, essentially, the day before was dedicated to party food preparation and the highlight: making 50 mini orange butter cupcakes and individually decorating them.



The next morning, I took advantage of the beautiful light coming in the dining area window and snapped something like 300 over photos of the cupcakes using my new Nikon DSLR. I have blisters on my elbows to show for it! I must admit that when the camera first arrived, I felt really intimidated with all the different settings and functions. I’m one of those people who ABHOR reading instruction manuals, so that wasn’t going to help. I secretly thought of putting the camera away and going back to using my Pentax Optio. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. I want to thank Greg Winning, Photographer Extraordinaire and Business Partner to my husband Ming at Brando for offering to ‘take me under his wing’, and our very wise and generous friend, Jeff Miles for presenting me with my very first Tripod! My elbows thank you gratefully, Jeff!




Although the cupcake photos were shamelessly taken on the ‘auto’ function, I was quite happy with them and will do a post on them when I return from my Vacation. Yes, foodies, I’m taking a long awaited Holiday to Singapore and Chiang Mai! YAY! This is my last post until I return on the 10th of September. This holiday is a little different from the ones I’ve had in the past because this time around, I’ll be meeting up with a couple of Food Bloggers. I will also be doing a baking class with Patissier Blogger Lynn Chen who has so kindly fit me in her busy schedule despite the fact that she’s shooting for a cookbook.






Over in Chiang Mai , I’ve booked Ming and myself for a 4 course Thai Cooking Class and Lunch at the Lush Kaohom Cooking School. Apart from this, we will of course be doing the glutton thing and will be eating non-stop. Mind you shopping , massages, spas and delicious foot reflexology is on the agenda too! I am SO looking forward to all this! I promise to document my eating and learning adventures and shall deliver when I return. Foodies’ Pledge! I leave you with a recipe for Strawberry Pavlova, a delectable yet simple dessert .












STRAWBERRY PAVLOVA
Serves 10

4 egg whites
2 cups caster sugar
2 tsp white vinegar
4 tbsp boiling water
4 tsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla essence

CUSTARD

To save time, I used my favourite store-bought custard


FRESH WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

1 600ml carton of thickened whipping cream
Icing sugar to taste


STRAWBERRIES

500g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1 tsp caster sugar sprinkled onto strawberries and lightly tossed

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 30cm (12in) baking tray with baking paper and draw a 20cm circle on the paper. Place the caster sugar, boiling water, vinegar and egg whites into a large bowl. Beat until mixture is stiff enough to hold it’s own peaks. Sift the cornflour and baking powder into the bowl, then add the vanilla and fold in lightly.


Pile the meringue onto the baking tray within the circle, flatten the top and smooth the sides. Place into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 150C for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat further to 100C for an hour longer. After that, turn off the oven and leave the pavlova in the oven overnight to dry out.

To serve, top the pavlova with some custard, then with the whipped cream and the strawberries.

29 comments:

KellytheCulinarian said...

Those are some lucky little ladies! Beautiful dessert.

I also had a brush with an SLR camera that ended with a ton of blueish photos. It was sad.

Bel said...

Hiya Carol! That pavlova looks delicious, and I can't wait to see the pics of the cupcakes you made for the girls - lucky little things. Please send a BIG happy birthday to Paige from me :o)

Have a wonderful holiday with the fam and hopefully we can catch up again when you get back.

Safe travels and eat well!

xx

kezia*anastasia said...

Hi Carol!!!

my goodness that pavlova looks soooooo good!!!! send me some! hahaha..

have a great time on your holiday! too bad u can't join us for xen's baby showerrr.. but i'll take a lot of pics for u to look at :) i'm sure u'll be enjoying shopping spree in singapore *soo jealous!*

a big happy birthday for Paige :)

i'll c u when u get back :)

Patricia Scarpin said...

Carol, your pavlova is absolutely stunning!

And have fun on your trip!

Daniel Indradjaja said...

Carol,
I'm happy for you that you get to have a well-deserved holiday, but I'm really gonna miss reading your blog. I don't cook much these days, but I must've visited your blog at least once a day just in case you have a new post.

P.S. The Pavlova looks yummy and really nice pictures too. Must teach me some day, eh? ;-)

Nora B. said...

Hi Carol. I see that you are having fun with your new toy, and it will be even more fun now that you have a tripod. woo-hhooo!

Pavlovas are great. Yours look gorgeous! I am especially a fan of Nigella's choc pav with rasberries. The last time I made it was on Australia Day and there was not even a crumb left. It's time for me to revisit the pav.

Mandy said...

pretty pavlova! wish I could have a slice! Enjoy your holiday and can't wait to hear from you when you are back!

Anonymous said...

I love pavlovas. This one looks really yummy. Aside from strawberries, I make mine with kiwi, pineapple and grapes, too. Gorgeous!

joy
The Goddess In You

boo_licious said...

I love pavlovas too! Wow, lucky you to get a spot at Lynn's cooking class. Can't wait to read abt that as I've been admiring her cakes. Have a good trip!

Anh said...

Pavlova, yum! I love the way yours turned out.

Have a great holiday and dont forget to take lots of photo!

Big Boys Oven said...

Oh my goodness...... such an inviting piece of craft you had there. It looks like, love at a first sight and feeling like marrying the Ms Strawberry Pavlova but not with the chef..... hahahahahah!

Therefore BigBoysOven declare that Chef Carol will have to take over BigBoysOven's kitchen for a day when she is in KL!!!

Ming the Merciless said...

Gorgeous photos of the pavlova!!

A new camera, a new tripod, vacation with cooking classes and massages....oy, you are one lucky lady.

Enjoy your trip to Singapore and Thailand, and take lots of photos for us.

Anonymous said...

I love pavlova. it's certainly one on my favourite deserts of all time.

Anonymous said...

Hey, my first time dropping by here. You know what? I've just tried your aunt's Seng Kee wantan mee for lunch! :) Gosh its really good.

Anonymous said...

You did mentioned about your aunt on Jackson's blog. I actually mentioned your name to your aunt when I was there! :P Kekeke...sorry for being such a busybody.

Anyway, you really should go try the char siew at Section 17, PJ. The char siew at this Restoran Choon Yien is on a league of their own.

• Eliane • said...

Hi there! Your blog was just one click away from Ming's (nyc). I love food pictures. I took 3kgs just looking at yours. ;)

Rafe Totengco said...

absolutely evil, but the best kind. haven't had pavlova in eons.

Cutie said...

OH gosh, that's so beautiful. I think you will have to start making one of these yummy dessert soon. I would like to have some of everything. Hehe... Good job... And now you made me crave for strawberry pavlova.

thwany said...

aw that must've been such a sweet party (no pun intended)!! i wish my parents did stuff like that when i was a kid.

about not knowing who john mayer is, it's okay, haha i actually don't think you're missing out on much.

and thanks for all your comments, i appreciate them =)

daphne said...

Hi Carol!!
The Pavlova looks beautiful! yummy!
I came across your blog from another link (i think it's masakmasak). Great to know another fellow foodie in Perth!

have a great holiday!

PangTama said...

OMG!!..looks really yummy...now it's 1:11pm, still doing my work at the office, starving, and drooling in front of my computer...

Have a great holiday Carol!! :)
Dont forget to take a lot of pictures.

Amrita said...

Looks fantastic, dear!

daphne said...

Hi Carol! Thanks so much for dropping over. Your blog is cool! I'm attending Westminister presbyterian over at Bullcreek but I tend to visit other churches from time to time. I will probably visit one Sunday but a friend just came over Perth recently and she is just settling in Westminister so I might visit a few weeks later instead =) Drop by at Westminister Presbyterian-it's along Bullcreek Drive if you would like to visit as well!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful cake ! :)

Enjoy yourself in Singapore and Chang Mai.

WokandSpoon said...

I can imagine you with a whole bunch of 8-yr olds running around ;-)
The pavlova looks fantastic!!

Nora B. said...

Hi Carol, I have an award for you. :-) Details are on my blog. Have a good weekend ahead.

WokandSpoon said...

You made and individually decorated 50 cupcakes!!!! wow! The pavlova looks fantastic!

Helene said...

One of my favorite desserts and yours is absolutely perfect!

Oh for the love of food! said...

Helen,
Thank you so much, it really means a lot coming from you!