Meringue

Joan said:

Does anyone have a good pavlova recipe. I know you can find them
everywhere but the type I am looking for is a result that ends up
being pure white and not lightly biscuit-coloured and is like
marshmallow in the middle (not chewy!). Is it in the cooking method?

Marshmallow???? I thought that a good meringue shell should be nice and
try and crispy. If my wife were here I could give you her recipe
because she is the meringue queen, but from what I have gathered from
her, the secret is in the baking. They are cooked at low heat and then
left in the oven.

Joan said:

Does anyone have a good pavlova recipe. I know you can find them
everywhere but the type I am looking for is a result that ends up
being pure white and not lightly biscuit-coloured and is like
marshmallow in the middle (not chewy!). Is it in the cooking method?
Thanks Joan

Dave is basically right. I'm not much of a one for pav baking, but if
yours is lightly biscuit coloured then it's certainly because your oven
is too hot. I do know that you have to cool them down very slowly -
leave the oven door slightly ajar - to prevent cracking or weeping, bqt
it's years since I last attempted one. I'm sure somebody with more
practical experience will come to your rescue :-)

Christine

Dave Smith said:

Joan said:

Does anyone have a good pavlova recipe. I know you can find them
everywhere but the type I am looking for is a result that ends up
being pure white and not lightly biscuit-coloured and is like
marshmallow in the middle (not chewy!). Is it in the cooking method?

Marshmallow???? I thought that a good meringue shell should be nice and
try and crispy. If my wife were here I could give you her recipe
because she is the meringue queen, but from what I have gathered from
her, the secret is in the baking. They are cooked at low heat and then
left in the oven.

A pav has a crispy shell, but the interior is marshmallow. It's a big,
cake sized thing, and you top it with whipped cream and fruit. You're
right about the method, though.

Christine

Thank you both for your replies. I know the meringue should be
basically dry and crisp but I did tasted an absolutley melt in the
mouth, pure white meringue, with a crisp outside and softish centre,
filled with strawberries and cream. It was absolutley divine! So I
wondered what the secret of that meringue was. Have you heard of
Italian meringue where the sugar is boiled and whisked in? I wondered
what that is like. I will try the lower oven temp. though.

Hopefully someone can help. Thanks again.
Joan

Old Mother Ashby said:

Joan said:

Does anyone have a good pavlova recipe. I know you can find them
everywhere but the type I am looking for is a result that ends up
being pure white and not lightly biscuit-coloured and is like
marshmallow in the middle (not chewy!). Is it in the cooking method?
Thanks Joan

Dave is basically right. I'm not much of a one for pav baking, but if
yours is lightly biscuit coloured then it's certainly because your oven
is too hot. I do know that you have to cool them down very slowly -
leave the oven door slightly ajar - to prevent cracking or weeping, but
it's years since I last attempted one. I'm sure somebody with more
practical experience will come to your rescue :-)

Christine

Old Mother Ashby said:

Dave is basically right. I'm not much of a one for pav baking, but if
yours is lightly biscuit coloured then it's certainly because your oven
is too hot. I do know that you have to cool them down very slowly -
leave the oven door slightly ajar - to prevent cracking or weeping, but
it's years since I last attempted one. I'm sure somebody with more
practical experience will come to your rescue :-)

I consider myself to have been blessed. My mother made meringues when I was
a kid. At least once a month we had meringues with either ice cream or
whipped cream and and assortment of chocolate sauce and raspberries and/or
strawberries which had been frozen with sugar so there was lots of great
juice. My wife also likes to make and serve meringues, and hers are better
than my mothers. She also gets a little more experimental with them. One
time she made 3 or 4 large meringues instead one a bunch of little ones and
added slivered almonds. Having all those egg yolks left over, she made a
chocolate pot de creme and spread it between layers of meringue. Delicious.

Joan said:

Thank you both for your replies. I know the meringue should be
basically dry and crisp but I did tasted an absolutley melt in the
mouth, pure white meringue, with a crisp outside and softish centre,
filled with strawberries and cream. It was absolutley divine! So I
wondered what the secret of that meringue was. Have you heard of
Italian meringue where the sugar is boiled and whisked in? I wondered
what that is like. I will try the lower oven temp. though.

Hopefully someone can help. Thanks again.
Joan

Margaret Fulton is reputedly the ultimate expert on pavlova, but I don't
have her book. I do have Stephanie Alexander's Cook's Companion. You
apparently have access to a number of recipes so I won't give hers (for
a 4 egg pav) unless you want it, but I will quote her advice.

"Pavlova can be difficult to cook, as the meringue needs a short period
of high heat to set and crisp the exterior and then a long period of
cooling heat to set but not dry out the marshmallowy interior.
Experiment with your own oven. Every oven is different and some adjust
faster than others. If your oven does not adjust temperature quickly you
may have better results by cooking the pavlova at 120C for 2 hours. (Her
recipe says preheat to 180, reduce immediately to 150 for 30 mins, then
reduce further to 120 for 45 mins). If syrupy droplets form on the
surface of the meringue, you'll know you have overcooked it; liquid
oozing from the meringue is a sign of undercooking."

Hope that helps.

Christine

Quoted message said:

Old Mother Ashby said:

Joan said:

Does anyone have a good pavlova recipe. I know you can find them
everywhere but the type I am looking for is a result that ends up
being pure white and not lightly biscuit-coloured and is like
marshmallow in the middle (not chewy!). Is it in the cooking method?
Thanks Joan

Dave is basically right. I'm not much of a one for pav baking, but if
yours is lightly biscuit coloured then it's certainly because your oven
is too hot. I do know that you have to cool them down very slowly -
leave the oven door slightly ajar - to prevent cracking or weeping, but
it's years since I last attempted one. I'm sure somebody with more
practical experience will come to your rescue :-)

Christine

Dave Smith said:

Quoted message said:

I consider myself to have been blessed. My mother made meringues when I was

a kid. At least once a month we had meringues with either ice cream or
whipped cream and and assortment of chocolate sauce and raspberries and/or
strawberries which had been frozen with sugar so there was lots of great
juice. My wife also likes to make and serve meringues, and hers are better
than my mothers. She also gets a little more experimental with them. One
time she made 3 or 4 large meringues instead one a bunch of little ones and
added slivered almonds. Having all those egg yolks left over, she made a
chocolate pot de creme and spread it between layers of meringue. Delicious.

How lucky were/are you! I really am going to have to try your wife's
recipe, it sounds lovely.

I used to make hazlenut meringue, sandwich two layers with raspberries
and cream and served it with either a raspberry coulis or chocolate
sauce. The nuts do enhance the meringue though.
Joan

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 05 May 2006 17:35:27 +1000, Old Mother Ashby
<[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Pavlova can be difficult to cook, as the meringue needs a short period
of high heat to set and crisp the exterior and then a long period of
cooling heat to set but not dry out the marshmallowy interior.
Experiment with your own oven. Every oven is different and some adjust
faster than others. If your oven does not adjust temperature quickly you
may have better results by cooking the pavlova at 120C for 2 hours. (Her
recipe says preheat to 180, reduce immediately to 150 for 30 mins, then
reduce further to 120 for 45 mins). If syrupy droplets form on the
surface of the meringue, you'll know you have overcooked it; liquid
oozing from the meringue is a sign of undercooking."

Quoted message said:

Hope that helps.

Christine

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to look this up for me. I
can see now that as I suspected my oven is not keeping to the
temperature it should and I really have to turn it down. I will
definitely use the 120C temperature next time. I will copy and keep
this advice in my file!

Thanks a lot, Christine. When I next try this I will let you know how
I go on.
Joan

Old Mother Ashby said:

Quoted message said:

Marshmallow???? I thought that a good meringue shell should be nice and
try and crispy. If my wife were here I could give you her recipe
because she is the meringue queen, but from what I have gathered from
her, the secret is in the baking. They are cooked at low heat and then
left in the oven.

A pav has a crispy shell, but the interior is marshmallow. It's a big,
cake sized thing, and you top it with whipped cream and fruit. You're
right about the method, though.

Here's me, spoiled by having been fed wonderful meringue shells for years. I
assumed from the look of Pavlova that they were the same thing, but having
checked our recipes, I see was misled myself. They look good. I will have to
try doing one sometime. Strawberry season is coming soon. That would be a
great time to try one. But do I dare risk outshine my wife's wonderful
meringue shells?

A local restaurant used to have great Meringue Chantilly on their dessert
menu. We used to go there regularly and I often had that. The restaurant is
under new management and the prices soared. They probably have smaller,
labour intensive items now, stuff that takes great pictures but doesn't do
much for the palate.