Pavlova Magic

Firstly, to Rachel, thank you for the present. It was awesome! Sorry that I didn't wait to make it during our cooking meetings, but I really couldn't take it any longer.
Okay, what Rachel got me was... magic. PAVLOVA MAGIC.

 You might be confused as to why Rachel gave me cake mix, but it's an inside joke. And I'm glad she did, since I have always wanted to try pavlova and never got a chance.

Making it was incredibly easy. I didn't even have to measure anything! But more on that later.

THE INSTRUCTIONS (word by word)

PAVLOVA MAGIC


All you need: 


130g caster sugar


140ml water 


1. Preheat


Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius conventional or 150 degrees Celsius fanforced. Line a 37 x 25 cm baking tray with baking paper.


2. Mix


Fill the bottom of the "plastic egg" with lukewarm water (140ml) and pour into a high-sided large mixing bowl. Carefully add the Pavlova Magic mix and mix on low speed for 15 seconds. Mix on high speed for 4-7 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the mixture is stiff and forms peaks. Switch mixer to the slowest speed. Fill the top of the "plastic egg" with caster sugar (130g) and sprinkle evenly into the mix. Mix on high speed for 1 minute. Pile mixture onto prepared lined tray, shaping it into a high dome shape. Pavlova Magic will spread during baking.


3. Bake
Reduce the oven temperature to 120 degrees Celsius conventional or 100 degrees Celsius fan-forced., place the baking tray on the middle shelf and bake for 1 hour.


4. Rest


Turn off the oven and leave pavlova in the oven until the oven has completely cooled down. Do not open the oven door at any time during the baking or drying process.

Decoration Ideas:


Top with fresh whipped cream and fresh fruit (strawberries, kiwi fruit, banana, passionfruit, raspberries or blueberries), ice cream topping or choc chips or drizzle with liqueur and melted chocolate.


I'm not sure why I copied that all out. I mean, you can't really make it since you don't have the mix, and if you did you'd have the instructions yourself. That was so pointless...

For the first time ever, I actually managed to follow all the steps without tweaking/changing/messing anything up!

Except for once, when I managed to cover my whole camera with the sticky mixture while beating it. At least it didn't get on the lense, but it took ages to wash out.

Back to the not having to measure anything, the whole plastic egg bottom and top thing, I think that's just genius. Just pure genius. Measuring may be the most boring, annoying thing on earth, and they managed to make it easy and fun in the form of a cutesy plastic egg.
HUZZAH for plastic measuring eggs.

Here are a few of the shots:

 It collapsed at the end, which was extremely depressing, but it still tasted really good. The top was crunchy and not too sweet like some meringues are, and just melted in your mouth. This was, in my opinion, the better part, and I kept eating it by itself and taking it off, leaving the rest. The bottom bit was also really good, it tasted a bit like a more spongy version of marshmallow fluff.
The whole cake itself tasted gorgeous with cream and fruit, all these different textures and flavours blended together perfectly.

Again, thank you Rachel!

p.s. Milena! Send me the lasagne pictures!