Macaroon/Macarons..and a rant about reality TV

Firstly: I don't watch "Masterchef". I did, however, see a very pretty picture of the Zumbo macaron tower on the "Masterchef" magazine at my local supermarket. A lot of people just love Masterchef, but not me. I didn't watch either the first or second series, the celebrity version, or am not currently watching the kiddy version. I don't like the relentless march of reality TV; and I don't need to watch reality television- newspapers now report on the series as if it is ACTUAL news. Anyway, enough of my rant about reality TV. I just felt as though I had to justify making these gorgeous macarons.

Firstly, a lot of people think they are "Macaroons". This is, according to this wikipedia entry, slightly wrong. A macaroon is a meringue type biscuit with coconut in it, generally in a raised shape. What I cooked was more of a macaron (as per this wiki entry). I think these are going to be the next big thing after cupcakes. Apparently macaron shops are opening up all over New York, so I would expect that eventually this will filter through to Australia.

Anyway, I decided to attempt to make a batch, and they were surprisingly easy (though time consuming since I used too small a tip in my pastry bag, and also found out the hard way that my pastry bag is crap!)

So the photographic evidence is above, and the recipe is below. These are so delicious! I made chocolate ones, figuring they would probably be fairly successful for a work morning tea.

Chocolate Macarons with ganache filling

Ingredients

• 300g icing sugar
• 300g ground almonds
• 40g cocoa
• 5 eggwhites
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 75g caster sugar (1/3 cup)

Ganache

100g double cream

250g dark chocolate peices

Method

1. Sift icing sugar, cocoa and almonds into a large bowl (push through with a wooden spoon)

2. Whisk eggwhites until foamy. Add the pinch of cream of tartar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3. Add sugar, 1 spoon at a time, and whisk until dissolved. Stir egg white into almond mixture (mixture will be stiff). Don't be gentle here; the more your egg whites collapse the better. If they are too airy, your macarons will be dull and have a pitted texture after they are baked.

4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large piping nozzle. Pipe small, uniform rounds on to baking paper-lined oven trays (I used about 4 different sized ones here, so grease up a couple to start then see how you go). They will smooth out with time. If you would like to smooth them out slightly, use a wet finger to smooth any bumps. I greased my paper so that the macarons would come off a bit easier.

5. S

et meringues aside, uncovered, on trays for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 200

°C towards the end of this time.

6. Set macarons into oven and immediately turn the heat down to 150°C(see below** for an explanation of why you would do this. It is optional of course; you can leave the oven on at 150°C). Bake macaroons for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. For me ,the best ones were the ones on the bottom tray of the oven, closest to the gas flame, but you may find this different in your oven.

7. Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaroon to release from baking paper.
For the ganache, slowly heat the cream and chocolate pieces, stirring occasionally until a smooth mixture is formed. Allow the mixture to cool, and spread onto the bottom the now cooled macarons. Join the halves together to form your biscuits.

*By leaving them out for an hour, you are also allowing the macarons to minimise cracking, as the egg white on the outside to hardens slightly, which means you will have the crispy outside, and a chewy inside.

**The change in temperature in the oven helps the coveted "foot" form at the bottom of the macaron. The initial high temperature hardens the outside of the macaron, and the mixture inside is forced down and forms the "foot" on the bottom of the macaron. I find this a particularly beautiful part of the macaron!

After baking, these keep for a couple of days in a sealed container, and are even better the next day.

New feature! Now Repertoire Food is "Print Friendly"

Hey everyone,

I get a lot of feedback asking me to please try and make my articles a bit easier to print. So I have done some research and have decided to add a "print friendly" widget to the bottom of each article. While I prefer not to print things out, sometimes I need a handy reference in the kitchen with me instead of having a computer precariously perched a little too close to food!

With this widget, you can choose to remove the image, or any other sections of text before printing to save a bit of ink which is a nice feature as well. From this feature you can also print to .pdf format, and tweet the article.

Have a nice Sunday everyone! I am trying out macarons today. Will let you know how it goes!

On being MIA

Yes folks, I've been sort of missing in action recently and apologise. It is so hard to feel inspired when the winter seems to have gone on and on for far too long. Down here, the rain never seems to stop. Food Critic Andrew and I have moved, changed jobs (well me, Food Critic Andrew has taken up a second job to supplement writing) and we are finally settling into the new climate, and the new place! We are now in a slightly smaller place, closer to town, and has a manageable lawn. I have convinced Food Critic Andrew to dig up a bit of lawn so that I could have a little vegetable garden. It has started to come along quite nicely as well. I think we will have to expand it further - it is full though I still need room for tomatoes and capsicum that I have growing in a little greenhouse (apparently down here they cannot be planted until after Melbourne Cup day - for all of you overseas that means the first Tuesday in November).

I have sadly put on a little weight over winter so I am working really hard at controlling my portion sizes and have laid off the chocolate (it is funny - after a few days you barely notice that it is gone). It seems to kick-start my passion for cooking all over again. I am also getting back into some serious running and swimming. I am starting to feel healthy and summery again!

And of course I've been finding plenty on the Internet - Jim's pancakes is really fun! I am not sure I could dedicate a whole blog to pancakes, but I sure love them, and looking through the archives, I have to admire Jim's dedication to his art. I am totally amping up my pancake making in the future. I have subscribed to his newsletter so hopefully will be able to try some out soon.

Also, I made an amazing pasta for lunch yesterday - it was sort of based on a recipe I found at taste.com.au - Mushroom and Pancetta spaghetti. I am pretty sure I had 100gm of pancetta though, and I added quite a bit of chili as well since the recipe sounded slightly bland. I might try adding different types of mushrooms as well next time; but this really is one of those "cupboard love" recipes you can make out of stuff you'd hopefully have in your cupboard/fridge. I suppose you could use bacon instead of pancetta if that was what you have, but the pancetta give the dish a nice little kick! Now I only wish my picture was as nice as "tastes"!

Coconut milk yoghurt.....

pic: www.coyo.com.au

So, I recently was stalking my friends on Facebook and noticed my friend Kathy Keynes mentioning Coconut Milk Yoghurt. Intrigued, I got in touch with them to try and source some product, however no luck! Perhaps they didn't get my email..but never-mind! Kathy was happy to provide a review for readers of this site. Thanks a lot, Kathy!

"Recently I had to say farewell my serious Greek yoghurt addiction when I gave up dairy for a few months. This is something I had been quite sure I would never do since there are so many yummy dairy products and dairy-containing items in the world, but I have since been proven wrong. So here I am, dairy free for about 3 months now, and always on the lookout for decent dairy substitutes wherever and whenever I can.

So far I have become a slave to soy products and rice milk, but the soy tends to leave a blah aftertaste in my mouth, no matter how much sugar is present. Then I heard about coconut yoghurt, Coyo, at my favourite health food store. This I had to try. The flavours available that day were passion-fruit and mango - the bright orange puree at the bottom of the container convinced me that this was the one that I wanted.

Back at home, I opened the container straight away to taste my new purchase, and saw a creamy, fairly thick 'yoghurt', similar in consistency to Greek yoghurt. While the fragrance of the Coyo was not very strong, the coconut flavour really shone through and then lingered for a bit. It reminded me of a very dense coconut cream but without the 'oily/fats' taste. The fruit puree created a nice balance to the creaminess, and I would imagine that a tart fruit puree may provide the perfect counterbalance to this product. The lady who sold me the Coyo recommended the passion-fruit flavour while a friend of mine tried the berry flavour, and thought it was quite good (and that it definitely needed the fruit).

I think it might be time for me to try another flavour soon!"

You can check out Coyo here.

Winter...

We are still one month away from Spring, and, as much as I love baking puddings and all those sorts of things to keep one toasty and warm through the season, I thoroughly cannot wait until summer. I have had enough of being rugged up and wearing several layers and my hands being too cold to move when I go for a jog. The sun doesn't seem to rise until after 7am here which is confusing me. I want to drink banana smoothies with abandon! Slurp on Weis bars whilst feeling the sand between my toes at the beach! Wear sundresses and make salads for dinner!

Tomorrow we are off to Warrnambool to have a further look at a couple of rental properties that we checked out last week. Now that we are definitely moving down there, we can start to make more concrete plans. We stayed last week at the Sebel Deep Blue Warrnambool, this time we are going to stay at Aqua Ocean Villas to see what they are like. We got a good last minute deal!

Of course, I managed to fall victim to the curse of country coffee, yet again! We took a scenic drive from Warrnambool to Stawell through some countryside that I had not seen before. The Grampians are so majestic and well worth a visit if you are down this way. We stopped at Dunkeld, a small town on our route. I was tired and in need of a coffee. I really should have gone with a soft drink, that I now know. Yet another latte dumped on the side of the road....

Hopefully this week we will get to visit Seppelt's Winery in Great Western and go on one of their tours. I am not much of a wine buff but I take a scientific interest in the process. Hopefully I can take some photos to share with you.

I could pore over this for hours....

I am baker

Spike's Village fries

So, I've just spent a couple of hours this morning cleaning up my email inbox in an attempt to un-clutter my (digital) life somewhat. It is funny - gmail tends to keep all the email addresses you've ever sent an email to, which I guess is kind of handy, but can be confusing when you are trying to cull contacts (it makes me more confused? Who are you? Should I be keeping you? Perhaps the rule of thumb is that if you cannot remember who it is, then it is not worth keeping. Just like your freezer - if you can't remember what it is or when it got frozen, it is probably time to throw it out.

We are still in Stawell and this evening we are continuing our tour of regional Chinese restaurants of Australia. We will be moving down to Warrnambool in about a week or so, depending on the rental situation. *sigh* more moving... It is becoming rather tedious, but Food Critic Andrew and I are getting super efficient at packing and unpacking!

However, in the meantime, I have a treat for you! Spike's village fries. These are delicious and easy. Far far too easy, in fact! I had never made oven chips before and found these are well worth the peeling and cutting. As with the previous recipe, Spike Mendolsohn's sexy burgers, these are also from The Good Stuff Cookbook: Burgers, fries, shakes, wedges, and more which I can't wait to purchase for Food Critic Andrew. I didn't use the type of potato listed in Spike's recipe (red bliss; I used Sebago), however mine still turned out amazingly good. I urge you to try making your own oven fries! Again, I also made some small adjustments - apologies to Spike if you're reading this!

Spikes Village Fries

Ingredients

I kg Sebago potatoes

Canola or vegetable oil for deep-frying

1/2 cup chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme

1⁄8 cup sea salt

Method

1.Wash and scrub potatoes under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Cut in half lengthwise, and then into long strips about 1⁄4-inch thick.

2. In a deep saucepan or deep-fat fryer, heat about 3 inches of oil until a thermometer reads 120°C. Line a metal tray or plate with a few paper towels.

3. Add one handful of the potatoes to the pot. Fry until tender but have no color. Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on the paper towels. Repeat the procedure until all the chips are cooked. Refrigerate until cool. (This took me about 15 minutes - luckily I had to go to the shops for some forgotten ingredients!)

4. Reheat the oil to 175°C. Line the metal tray or plate with fresh paper towels.

5. Add the cooled potatoes a few handfuls at a time and fry until golden and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on the paper towels.

6. Toss with the rosemary, thyme, and salt while the slices are still hot, and serve.

Spike Mendosohn's sexy burgers...

So we have reached the great state of Victoria. No! You haven't stumbled upon a road trip blog - we have in fact moved states from New South Wales to Victoria. If you're not entirely familiar with where I am talking about, here is a Google map of our journey. I am taking a short sabbatical before deciding what to do next. We spent most of this week either packing and driving down. It was a really lovely trip - we went through Gippsland and enjoyed watching the lovely countryside roll by as we drove. It was kind of stressful having the cat and a couple of fish tanks worth of fish with us but we managed to get to Stawell safely. We are currently staying with Andrew's parents who are kind enough to put us up (or put up with us!) for a bit.

Anyway, I've been dying to show you something Andrew found recently and decided to make - it was a real winner! I can't remember how he found it but this is probably the first cook book he has coveted. It is called "The Good Stuff Cookbook: Burgers, fries, shakes, wedges, and more" and is by Spike Mendolsohn. I haven't heard too much about him in Australia but I'm sure he is well known over in the United States.

We tried 2 of the recipes as featured on the amazon.com link - "Spike's Village Fries", as well as the "Farmhouse Bacon Cheese Burger". These were great - and I urge you to try them - except be aware that the burgers are utterly, utterly huge so if you are watching your weight (as I am) you may wish to modify the amount of fillings in the burger. Even Andrew was rather full afterwards. I think - it's all about that awesome sauce!

This recipe shows my changes and additions/subtractions of this fabulous recipe.

Farmhouse bacon Cheese Burger (Spike Mendolsohn)

Ingredients 800 gm ground sirloin 6 hamburger buns, cut in half 500 gm streaky bacon Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper 6 slices cheese iceberg lettuce tomato slices red onion slices pickle slices About a cup of Spike's "Good Stuff Sauce" (as per recipe below) Method 1. To make the patties, roll six mince balls. 2. Grill or fry your bacon as you like (I prefer to grill to "crispy") 3. Heat a large skillet pan over med-high heat, and add a small amount of oil. 4. Place the mince balls into the pan, and flatten into patties. Season the patties with salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Flip, and cook on the other side for 1 minute. Place 3 strips of bacon and 1 slice of the cheese on each patty and continue to cook 2 minutes more. 5. Cover with a lid for the last 30 seconds to melt the cheese. 6. Toast the buns and set aside. 7. To assemble the burgers, place 1 patty on 1 toasted bun bottom. Top the patty with a lettuce leaf, tomato slices, onion slices, and 2 pickle slices each. Slather over with some of the "Good Stuff" sauce. Cover with the bun top. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Let rest for 2 to 3 minutes and serve.

Good Stuff Sauce

Spike says: "After reading several books and articles on Americans and the hamburgers they love, my mother found that people’s favorite sauces were different takes on Thousand Island dressing (ketchup and mayo). At one of our family tastings, Mike Colletti, a chef I met at Le Cirque, and I came up with our twist on it—we locked ourselves in the kitchen and added a little something to the sauce to give it a real kick." Ingredients 2 cups whole egg mayonnaise (I use S & W Whole egg Mayonnaise - I haven't graduated to making homemade stuff yet but feel free to go that extra mile!) 2 tbsp ketchup (NOT tomato sauce. Ketchup is far sweeter and tastier than tomato sauce) 2 tbsp molasses (you will find this in health food stores) 2 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tsp salt Method Add the mayonnaise, ketchup, molasses, vinegar, and salt to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Coming Soon - "Spikes Village Fries"; the perfect accompaniment to these yummy burgers!

Shagged (and in need of an Asian grocery store)

You know, I totally never seem to have time to do a total "once around" of my favourite websites of an evening anymore - one never seems to have the time. Busy, busy, busy at the moment with the cheesy lab. Anyway, I have found a solution in www.tastespotting.com - bringing the best bits of food blogs to me! Check it out - it is just delicious looking, and has some fabulous ideas.

I seem to be missing Sydney at the moment - well, I don't think it is about Sydney "the big smoke" but really the lack of Asian grocery stores around here! Nothing in my local town - but I did go for a long drive to Merimbula but couldn't find a damn thing. We found a Chinese medicine store - and the Chinese medicine lady told me she does all her grocery shopping in Sydney! Oh well - all I wanted was some Chinese cooking wine! Next Saturday I am going to check out a possible lead - apparently a service station nearby also doubles as an Asian grocery store. We shall see! I just hope it is not too overpriced. Actually I just want to find some Chinese Cooking wine. I'll probably pay far too much for it now - I am so emotionally involved in getting this stuff. You see -I'm hoping to make "Chop Chop" Chicken rolls and share that lovely recipe for you. It is inspired by a certain sandwich bar near the York Hotel in Sydney. Anyway, enjoy the view - from my old place in Sydney - a double rainbow. Wish me double luck for this weekend, folks!

Beesting cake

Recently I've been recovering from an incident where I was burnt on my face and arm. I'm certainly healing up well - which is a testament to my quick thinking workmates, and proper first aid. I'm very happy to be back blogging. Please enjoy some Bee sting cake!


I'm such a huge fan of the Bee sting Torte made by the franchised The Cheesecake shop, so decided to try and make the real deal. The Bee sting cake is traditionally known as Bienenstich in Germany, where it hails from. It is traditionally yeast based, but I thought I might make a version with light sponge as the cake part, then everything else to spec. So maybe this is not quite the traditional version of a Bee sting - but very nice and worth making, nonetheless!

PS - It's easier than the recipe suggests - so I do urge you to try it out!

Ingredients

Cake

2/3 cup (100g) plain flour

4 tbsp (40g) custard powder

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

2/3 cup (160g) caster sugar

1 tbsp water if required

Topping

100g almonds, ground

honey

Custard filling

30g custard powder

250ml milk

50g sugar

100g butter, softened

Method

Cake

1. Sift flour, custard powder and baking powder

2. Separate eggs; place whites into mixing bowl

3. beat egg whites until stiff and then gradually add sugar whilst continuing to beat.

4. Add egg yolks and beat until you can form a figure eight with the mix (it will resemble thick cream)

5. Fold in sifted flour very lightly using a spoon. If you feel the mix is too thick, add some water.

6. Pour into pan and bake in a preheated 190 degree Celsius oven for 20 minutes.

Filling

1. Dissolve custard powder in a little bit of the milk in a saucepan. (just enough to dissolve milk)

2. When dissolved, add sugar and milk and then cook until boiling.

3. Allow to cool

4. Beat the butter until creamy, and when the custard has cooled (at least lukewarm) whip it with the butter until creamy

5. When Cake has cooled, slice in half and fill with custard.

Topping

1. Spread ground almonds over top of cake and drizzle with plenty of honey.

2. Allow to sink in so the the almonds stay on top

Because the kitchen gods must be appeased: Salt and pepper prawns! (easier than you think...and quicker too)

I've been having some cooking disaster recently. It all started with the lemon tart....

I decided to make a lemon tart for dessert one evening. Boy, I was looking forward to that. So I started the tart filling, and it seemed like things were going well until I got to the base. Unfortunately for me - I didn't quite have enough butter in the house to make the base. So I decided to go ahead and make the tart - and do the base the next evening Silly me. It didn't turn out well at all! The base burnt, and so I threw it away, and only had the realisation that I could have turned it into chocolate truffles as the last of it went into the compost. Decidedly NOT a good feeling.

I have also bought a slow cooker. The first recipe I tried was lamb shanks, but I made the mistake of buying the wrong wine, and it was so bad we ended up getting a pizza. It's gone back into the cupboard until I gain some cooking mojo back.

So there's my confessional, dear reader! I've made a few disasters recently.

However, something I stumbled upon quite by accident has left me quite excited - Salt and Pepper prawns. In the small town I live in, there are 2 supermarkets, one of which I frequent. They had promised me a delivery of squid would be arriving - so I carefully planned around that and made sure I showed up on the right day. Of course, there was no squid delivery! So instead I bought some raw prawns and decided to make salt and pepper squid, instead (oh, and I tend to make this when the prawns - peeled and de-veined, with tail on - are on special. It's great because it is yummy and quick; I think having to spend hours peeling prawns would take something away from this for me)

A few days later, the squid finally turned up, and after my success with the prawns, I thought I would try with the squid. It wasn't as nice - and was harder to prepare. I'm sticking with the prawns, in future! This is so damn easy; there should be more of it in the world!

Salt and Pepper Prawns

Ingredients

1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rice flour
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili flakes

oil, for deep frying
500g prawns

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together
2. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius
2. Heat up the oil until about 190 degrees Celsius (a piece of bread turns golden within a few seconds when dropped in the oil)
3. In about 3 batches, coat the prawns in the mixture and deep fry them. Put cooked prawns on a well lined baking tray (use a few layers of paper) and keep them hot in the oven.
4. Serve with your favourite salad!

Simple chocolate fudgy brownies

Sometimes, you yearn for chocolate. And so dear reader, tonight I thought I would entrance you with some simple chocolate fudgy brownies. I resisted the temptation to add all sorts of things to try and make it "better". I nearly added half a cup of milk chocolate chips, but thought better of it just as I was about to pour them into the saucepan.

I like this recipe for the sheer simplicity of it. It took less than 10 minutes to prepare; and takes about 25 minutes to bake in a moderate oven.

Chocolate fudge brownies

Ingredients:

185g dark chocolate
125g butter
100g brown sugar
1 tsp instant coffee granules
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sifted plain flour
1 cup nuts or choc chips (I used sliced almonds, but walnuts are more traditional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Melt chocolate and butter over low heat
3. Add sugar and instant coffee and stir to dissolve
4. remove from heat, cool slightly, and beat in eggs
5. Beat in nuts and sifted flour.
6. Pour into a greased or lined brownie pan
7. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, allow to cool and then serve.

Around the interwebs.....

It's been raining all week here. We woke up yesterday morning to find that we have water views all of a sudden! I hope that this is the start of the end of the drought...

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of interesting research around the interwebs and came across some wonderful sites. You must visit this site! Almostbourdain.blogspot.com has some beautiful photography, and even better recipes. I am planning on making Dutch apple pancakes for breakfast next weekend. I couldn't go past the following : "Just imagine if a crepe and a pizza had a baby..."

Lamb! Pavlova! Celebrating Australia...

As decorated by Tia and Lela! Beautiful...

Oh, you're in for a treat dear reader! Two bug recipes for you this evening....!I've come across some wonderful recipes lately; Michael of course has been sending some lovely recipes over (still not game to bake those chipotle brownies yet though!) and the lovely Ariane sent me one of her own creation, that she has dedicated to Mr Sam Kecovich. Very amusing, Ariane, thanks!

Ariane's Olive crusted lamb with easy peasy minty salad

Ingredients

750gm lamb loin
1 cup mixed marinated olives (pitted)
2 tab flat leaf parsley
2 tab fresh mint leaves
1 tab fresh oregano (or a tsp dried)
2 tsp lemon rind.
juice of one lemon
a little olive oil.

200 gm frozen peas
150gm snow peas
150 grm trimmed beans
100 grm baby spinach.
2 tabs chopped green shallots

Dressing

1 tab Dijon mustard
100ml salad oil ( whatever you like best)
2 tsp sugar
25 ml raspberry vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Trim the fat off the lamb and lay on a baking dish.

2. Chuck all other ingredients into blender and pulse to a shiny rubble, or chop finely by hand, a mezzeluna knife is great for this is you have one. I do and its cool. Also my blender caught fire when I was making this, leaving me with no option but the old- fashioned way. and way, back to the cooking....

3. Add a little olive oil if needed. Season with pepper

3. Pat mixture onto lamb fillets and bake until cooked to your liking - perhaps 30min at 180 degrees. allow to rest, then slice

4. Cook frozen peas in boiling water until almost cooked, add bean and cook for one minutes, add now peas and cook for a further 30 seconds. drain and refresh in cold water. Mix with baby spinach leaves, shallots and mint and dress before serving - easy peasy. If you wanted it to be 'cheesy-easy-peasy mint salad' you could crumble a bit of feta on top. .. But that's getting a little Dr Seuss.

5. To make dressing combine all ingredients in a empty jar and shake well.

6. Serve with roasted sweet potato wedges, sprinkled with a little salt and paprika.

7. If you have a covered BBQ, use that instead of the oven to cook the lamb and potatoes. Its just more Aussie that way...

And now, onto the pavlova....

I also made a pavlova on the weekend. Now I have a confession to make with regards to this: despite being known as a quintessential Australian dessert, I had thought up until now that I wasn't a fan. I theorise that perhaps I tried one as a kid and wasn't a fan of the texture perhaps. Also, as you may well know, I've been cursed with an inability to make meringue by hand. So of course now that have a stand mixer I had to try one! I made my first on Australia day (of course!) and it was utterly magnificent. So we had friends over for lunch on Sunday; I made a Ploughman's lunch, and dessert was a pavlova. Tia and Lela did a magnificent job of decorating the cake with the fruit! Thanks!

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp vinegar (this makes the inside chewy)
pinch of cream of tartar (this helps the egg whites stiffen)

Topping

whipped cream (enough to cover the finished pavlova, at least a cup depending on your taste)
chopped fruit, including kiwi fruit, berries, passionfruit (again, to your own taste)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 120°C. Line an oven tray with foil. Brush with melted butter and dust with cornflour, shaking off excess.

2. Use an stand mixer to whisk egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form, adding a pinch of cream of tartar.

3. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar dissolved. (Rub a little meringue between fingers.- if it is still "gritty" with sugar, continue to whisk until sugar dissolves) Your mixture should be able to be turned upside down!

It made such a beautiful pattern in the mixer, I just had to take a photo!

4. Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk until just combined. Spoon meringue onto the foil, in a circle.

5. Optional step: Smooth sides and top of pavlova. Use a small spatula to forms little peaks around edge of pavlova. Bake in oven for 1 and a 1/2 hours (pavlova should be dry to the touch.)

6. Remove pavlova, and set aside to cool. When completely cold, transfer to serving plate or store in an airtight container until required.

7. Just before serving, dollop cream all over the top and then add fruit. Serve immediately.