FANTASTIC. Growing up in Australia this dish was part of our national identity, but here in the US I could just never get it right. This recipe is just as it should be. We always let this dish cool in the oven - just turn the oven off at the end of the cooking time and leave it there (even overnight!). For those who have found that it sometimes sticks, in Australia we would coat the paper with a thin dusting of corn starch before spooning the mix onto the baking tray.
This was wonderful and so easy to make! I also used just 1 cup of sugar. I added 1 tsp vanilla and 1 T powdered sugar to the cream. The barely sweet cream was a good balance with the very sweet meringue. I served with a platter of kiwi, strawberries, bananas & pineapple and let everyone choose their own fruit topping. It was a huge success! I read on another recipe to crumple your parchment paper, smooth out and sprinkle with cornstarch. The dessert came off the paper without any problems.
I grew up in the UK, and we made this dessert all the time over there. The ratio of the ingredients in this recipe is spot on, and this is how pavlova should taste. As mentioned, it is vital that no yolk get in with the whites(use an egg separator to help you if you want). Sprinkle the parchment paper with cornstarch to help the pavlova come off easily. If you want to sweeten the heavy whipping cream, you can sprinkle a little confectioners sugar in it. In order to help prevent cracking, the pavlova should be left in the oven to cool. Just turn it off and leave it in there for at least an hour. If it does crack, it's not a big deal because the cream will cover it anyway. Lastly, although peaches and cherries can be used to top pavlova, it tastes best and most authentic with strawberries, raspberries, or kiwi- or, a combination.
A couple of things are missing from this recipe, I like recipes to include ALL instructions. 1) When folding in the Vanilla, Cornstatch and lemon juice -- it should be blended together first!! She didn't mention this... The first attempt I added them one at a time, and the cornstartch created lumps in the egg whites, and all the folding deflated the whites slightly and had to start again. 2)She doesn't mention that you must only add the toppings of fruit, cusard, or whipped cream moments before serving!! I had a feeling this would be the case, but since I had never made it before, and it was not warned against, I added the toppings about 20mins before serving and lost all the crispness of the egg white -- except for just along the edge. Not the same effect at all. I felt like that should have been mentioned. I agree with a lot of other comments that it was too sweet. I only added a cup of sugar to the egg whites, and added an additional egg white.. and it was still pretty sweet. I am guessing cream of tarter could replace half-a-cup of sugar next time. All in all, not the best recipe on here for Pavlova, but if you add my instruciton, it would come out better then mine did...
WOW! The taste was WONDERFUL. Although I yook some others advice and reduced the sugar to 1 cup. Also also I placed a layer of bananas under the whip cream and used strawberries on top. Then I drizzled some chocolate syrup on top of everything. It looked wonderful! Was VERY easy to make! However, when I cut it into slices to serve, I was extremely disappointed that it was stuck to the parchment paper. It broke apart trying to pry it off the parchment, and looked like a gloopy mess on the serving plates. Does anyone have an idea why it stuck to the parchment?
My daughter was looking for a Pavlova recipe for her New Zealand project. Since she is 10, I thought that a recipe with the word "easy" in the title was a good choice. I read the reviews, several of which suggested reducing the sugar. Being a conscientious mom, I took the suggestions to heart and reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup. WRONG! When researching afterward, to try to find out why the whole thing cracked up into pieces, I discovered that the ratio of sugar to egg whites in a Pavlova is critical. I still gave it a 5 stars because the taste and presentation was wonderful and easy enough for a 10 year old to make. Next time, however, we will follow the recipe for the amount of sugar!!! I am sure that leaving the sugar out of the whipped cream will balance the sweetness of the meringue. We will definitely make it again.
AMAZING!!! I have been making Pavlova for 18 years with various recipes. I will never try another! Perfectly crunchy on the outside with an inch of marshmellow fluff on the inside. As suggested I used only 1 cup of sugar. As usual I topped with fresh whipped cream strawberries and kiwi. Thankyou for this perfect recipe!
i was worried that the meringue would be too sweet, so i reduced the sugar to 1 cup and it was still waaaaay too sugary for our tastes. if u would like a subtler flavor, then i recommend u try it out with only 3/4 cup sugar. that way, it shouldn't be so sweet that your teeth hurt... ;) i also learned a tip from a friend and added 3/4 cup yogurt and 4 T superfine sugar to the unsweetened heavy whipping cream (after having whipped it, of course) --- yum, yum! it made for a really nice tangy/sweet taste. i chopped up mandarin oranges and added it in to the whipped cream and garnished it with a mint sprig on top. people flipped out and i've had 3 guests call me to ask for the recipe. i snuck into the kitchen in the middle of the night to polish off the leftovers and they were all gone! now, that's a compliment!
This recipe was phenomenal. It had a few bumpy spots (like the directions were a little confusing to me and my mom), but I made two and they both came out marvelously. I took it to my family's Easter and it was the hit dish. My great aunt even told me that even though she didn't eat desserts hardly at all, this was one dish that she would actually eat because it was light and had just the perfect amount of sweetness. The amount of sugar called for in the recipe, in my opinion, is perfect. I may not be an expert, but my family is picky and they all loved it, so that has to say something. Multiple people were asking for the recipe, including my great aunt. I also followed many of these fellow reviewers' advice, such as do not use fresh eggs from the fridge, do not open the oven while it is baking, let it cool in the oven overnight, adding a tablespoon of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla to the heavy cream recipe to balance out the sweetness... It was delicious. I put kiwi fruit, strawberries, and blackberries on top (I was going to add passion fruit juice in with the whipped cream mixture, but the store was not selling any--sad face!). I'm seventeen, have no real, expert training in the kitchen, and I made this dessert by myself with very little difficulty--it was just a bit time consuming (prep time approximately 30 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on equipment and dedication). But it was more than worth it. Trust me.
