Sans Rival -AFF Philippines~Pinoy Bakes #3

I heard of this dessert many many years ago, from a fellow blogger friend Anne. From then... it was my 'dream' to bake one myself as I was intrigued by the layers of cashew nut dacquoise filled with french buttercream and topped with more cashew nuts... a nutty delight!

Nowadays there are many flavours of Sans Rival in Philippines, like mango, coffee and chocolate. But I guess I'll just try the original flavour, that's just with nuts.

Strawberry Meringue Baskets - Strawberry #3

I made this sometime ago because I happened to have a tub of greek yogurt. Ipoh's latest shopping center Aeon Station 18 has opened not too long ago and on my first visit, I saw a new range of products brought into Ipoh city :) Finally greek yogurt has arrived.

I've been visually attracted to this meringue basket sometime ago... and it was supposely to be filled with whipped cream and topped with strawberries. I decided to borrow that concept and use greek yogurt and fill it with strawberries too, rather than just on top. And add some texture and flavour contrast with a chocolate ganache as sauce.

Vanilla Bean Macaron with Passionfruit Curd, My 1st Bake-gether - Random Sunday

Remember when I did my kitchen post, I dreamt of a large kitchen with an island so that I can have lots of friends over to bake. But in the end I got so sad with my final kitchen. To those who didn't believe it's small ... ask Lena. Don't believe the pictures, they lie. LOL. Lena has seen the truth.

Pistachio Macaron with Avocado Cream Cheese Filling - Avocado Week #3

I lurrrrrrrrrrrrve this macaron. The pistachio makes it soooooooo fragrant. I don’t know if it’s because I gently roasted it beforehand or pistachios by itself really taste this good in macarons.

Mixed Berries Vanilla Semifreddo - Blueberry Week # 3

If you think that if you don't have an ice cream maker, your ice cream will be grainy and icy. Then you should try this. It's smoooooooooooooth. Maybe due to the absense of water or liquids, this semifreddo is smooooooooooth. The yolks used here are raw, therefore I recommend that you get yourself some pasteurized eggs, available in major supermarkets in the chiller section.

Mixed Fruits Chocolate Pavlova

After my successful Pavlova tryout, I'm game for a second pavlova, for my Form 6 buddies on Day 4, Chinese New Year. Well if u remembered, 2 days back I posted a post for the main course, fried rice with dried scallops and kailan stems. This is the dessert. And also to use up more egg whites :)

Since I had to serve about 10 dessert hungry wolves, I decided to go ahead with Nigella's recipe with 6 eggs.

What I used,
For the Pavlova
180gm egg whites (6 egg whites from 6 large eggs)
300gm sugar (don't cut on this, if not the pavlova won't hold)
3 Tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp rice vinegar
50gm dark chocolate, chopped


What I did,

1. Preheat oven at 180C. Draw a 9 inch circle on a non stick baking paper. Put drawn side down on a large tray.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff (pic 2), add in sugar slowly and gradually, and beat until meringue is stiff and shiny (pic3).
3. Put in sifted cocoa powder and cornstarch. Fold.
4. Put in vinegar and chopped chocolate and fold.
5. Mound meringue within drawn circle, smoothing sides and top.
6. Bake in preheated oven. After you've put the meringue in and oven door is closed, immediately turn down the temperature to 150C.
7. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. (I followed Nigella's instructions to bake for 1 hour 15 mins, and my pavlova is a bit uncooked. Previously I baked the 4 egg portion with this length of time and it was perfect. So, when the amount is increased to 6 eggs, I guess the same length of time will not be sufficient)
8. When baking time is up. Leave oven door slightly ajar and let pavlova cool in the oven.
9. Remove from oven when it has fully cooled down.

Topping:
350ml dairy whipping cream
3 Tbsp sugar
1 cup strawberry, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup canned mandarin oranges or tangerines, torn smaller
3 kiwi fruits, coarsely chopped

Beat dairy cream until soft peaks, put in sugar and beat until stiff. Mound whipped cream onto pavlova and top with chopped mixed fruits.

All gone within minutes....... what hungry wolves they were.

Hahahahaha!!!!!!

I love those wolves.

Strawberry Pavlova

I’ve got 30 egg whites left from making a Prunes Layer Cake. And I remembered Nigella making this wonderful crusty dessert called Pavlova. Did some googling and saw that most recipes call for every 2 egg whites, half a cup of sugar be used. Nigella’s recipe seems so huge to me, and this being my virgin Pavlova, I don’t want to risk making a huge one. I followed Joy of Baking’s recipe, with Nigella’s method.

I thought it would be difficult, but hey no.. It’s pretty easy. I succeeded at first attempt. As long as u cool it properly in the oven, do not rush.. rushing is no good to a pavlova… Patience, wait, and you’ll be fine. It will not look perfectly smooth, but with cracks here and there and that does not mean u’ve failed. U failed when u can’t cut the pavlova. Cos the interior isn’t cooked properly. If u can cut, u’ve done it!!

I made a mistake here that I will never do again.. I made a 1 inch tall rim on my raw meringue. Some recipes say to do that rim thing, so that it will hold the cream and fruit. But when my meringue is done, the 1/2 inch wall became 1and 1/2 inches. That’s why u don’t see a mountain of strawberries. My cream and berries weren’t enough to fill up the big crater. Better leave the surface flat so that it’ll form a shallower crater when baked and cooled.

So, what does this taste like??? Sweet!!! Utterly sweet. But, nice.

It has a crunchy crust that melts in ur mouth.

A soft marshmellowy interior that isn’t sticky or gummy. Count to 3, it’s gone.

Accompanied by creamy cream and contrasted by tart strawberries…

It’s really good. Provided each bite of the pavlova be accompanied by some strawberries to offset the sweetness.

Do not try to reduce the sugar, the meringue might not hold. Just add more tart/ tangy/sour fruits to the top and it’ll be fine.

Strawberry Pavlova Recipe

4 egg whites (120gm)

200gm castor sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp vinegar (I used rice vinegar)

1tsp vanilla

*If using non convection oven, pls raise the temperature by another 20C

1. Preheat oven at 180C. Draw an 7 inch circle (use a baking pan or plate/dish) with a pencil on the wrong side of a non stick baking paper. Place drawn side down on a large baking tray.

2. Beat egg whites until stiff. Beat in sugar by the tablespoons until meringue is stiff. Put in cornstarch and beat for a while (10 seconds, Don’t worry, it won’t deflate). Fold in vinegar and vanilla. (Make sure all the sugar is dissolved )
3. Mound meringue onto drawn circle, smoothing the sides and top.
4. Put into preheated oven and close the door. Immediately turn down the temperature to 130C and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
5. When the meringue base is ready, it will look pale and may have some cracks. Leave meringue in oven with door slightly ajar to totally cool down. If u feel that even the baking tray is cool, then it’s really cool.

Topping
200ml whipping cream
1 Tbsp sugar
200gm strawberries or more (hulled and cut into chunks)
(I stabilized my cream by adding in gelatin solution -1/2 tsp melted in 1 Tbsp water)

1. Beat whipping cream until almost stiff and put in sugar. Beat until stiff. Beat in gelatin mixture (if using).
2. Spoon cream onto cooled meringue and top with strawberries.
3. Serve immediately.

*If u want to make the meringue in advance, after baked and cooled, keep in air tight container for up to a week or two. Do not put topping on base if not served within an hour or 2.