BAKING PROJECT

A student of mine brought pavlova for us to try, it was really good.   She used a mixture of whip cream and mascarpone, the taste is heaven.  Since then I’ve been wanting to make pavlovas and finally had all the ingredients.  This is the mini version, recipe from Nigella “How to be a domestic goddess” cook book (thank you )

Makes 18 mini pavlovas.

The mini pavlovas I made has a diameter of around 10cm.  On a parchment paper, you  might want to draw circles to help you get a uniform shape.

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Mix the egg white and salt, and whisk on high speed, till it is slightly fluffy like in the picture above.

Slowly add the sugar a spoon at a time.  Keep beating until the meringue has stiff peaks, smooth and silky.   It might take 10 minutes or so.   Now using a spatula, fold in the cornflour, vanilla extract and vinegar.

Spoon the meringue onto the parchment or baking paper ( I used 2 tablespoon each but I think more is better, my pavlovas do seem a bit flat).   Then with the back of a spoon, try to flatten the center a little bit, to make a well.  This will hold the cream later.   Lower the oven temperature to 150C and bake for 30 minutes.   Once done, turn off the oven and let the meringues sit in the oven for another 30 minutes or till it is completely cool.  Fill the center with whip cream or whip cream + mascarpone (recipe here).  Sprinkle with fruits and serve immediately.

I find the recipe yields quite a lot, and so I made a big pav too.  But I have not decorated this one.

Once assembled, you have to keep it in the fridge till it is ready to serve.  I suggest not to add any more sugar to the whip cream as the meringue itself is already sweet.  Overall, the contrast between the sweet base and slightly sour fruits do make a good combination.   More recipes can be found here, or if you would like to order, then I highly recommend my student, Erin.  Cheers.

Another very easy dessert to make at home using apples or pear.  Looking at the ingredients,  I thought it would taste like pancake.  But because it is rich with eggs, it turned out tasting like Cream Caramel with apples !  Super-easy to do, you won’t even need a mixer to whip up this baked pudding.

Ingredients:

Preheat the oven at 180C.  Soak the raisins and then drain the water.  Peel and slice the apples.  Butter a pie plate or gratin and scatter the apples and raisin.   To prepare the custard, beat the eggs with the sugar lightly.  Whisk in the milk and the vanilla extract.  Mix till smooth.  Then slowly add the flour and stir till there is no lumps.  The batter will be thin and runny.  Pour onto the apples and dot with little pieces of butter.  Bake the pudding until the custard sets.  Do not over bake, it should be a little jiggly when you take it out of the oven.   Baking time – approximately 40 to 50 minutes.

And it’s ready.  Bon appétit