The Pavlova or Pav as it is affectionately called has been a favourite of New Zealanders for as long as anyone can remember. Most families have their own well guarded recipe for what makes a good Pav. Some sources claim that the recipe for pavlova originated in New Zealand, while others claim it was invented in Australia. However, like the Anzac biscuit, the earliest known books containing the recipe were published in New Zealand.
Professor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at Otago University in New Zealand found a pavlova recipe in a 1933 Rangiora Mothers' Union cookery book. Professor Leach also has an even earlier copy of the pavlova recipe from a 1929 rural New Zealand magazine.
Keith Money, a biographer of
Anna Pavlova, wrote that a chef at a hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, created the dish when the ballerina visited there in 1926 on her world tour.
Its a delightful Summer dessert which helps use up all that abundance of fruit around....Here is one recipe for making homemade Pavlova....Enjoy!!
New Zealand Pavlova Recipe.
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Servings: 1 pavlova
Ingredients:
3 Egg Whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Directions:
Beat egg whites until stiff (forms peaks). Add sugar - heaped tablespoon at a time - beating well after each addition. Then beat for at least 10 minutes. This is very important. Then sprinkle vinegar, cornflour and vanilla essence into mixture. Beat until blended.
Coat baking paper with water drops to allow baking paper to stick to sides of tin and pile pavlova mixture in 20cm circle.
Heat oven until 300°F (or 150°C). Put pav in oven and immediately turn oven down to 250°F (or 125°C) and leave for 1 hour. Then turn oven off and leave in oven until cold. (Usually overnight). This makes a nice crust on outside of pav.
Before serving, cover pav in whipped cream and decorate with your favourite fruit.
