I am currently in Spain and have been asked to make a Pavlova for Christmas dinner - using a small hand held electric beater.

My usual recipe serves 6 and there will be 11 people, so need a bigger version - I am loathe to just double it as that sometimes doesn't work!

Which recipe is best - Annabel Langbeins, Jo Seagars, Chelsea?

It will be interesting to see if I can find castor sugar as well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2018 11:28AM by Ali W.

For castor sugar you can just whizz regular sugar in a food processor until the grains are the right size.
Not sure about the others, but I found Chelsea's recipe a bit over fussy. I'd be inclined to make 2 of the recipe you are used to making, and perhaps sandwich them with cream/fruit, top with fruit, and serve like a cake.

I like Helen's recipe which is here

I have just made Helens recipe, but its weeping badly. What have I done wrong. Google suggests overbeating?

Also what to do with 6 egg yolks?

Merry Christmas
Sue

I have a list of Uses for Egg Yolks, and a similar one: Uses for Egg Whites, in my recipe book so that I can always look up what to do with them. If you want any of the recipes, just let me know and I'll post them here or pm them to you

Crème Brulée

Egg Yolks Sponge Cake

Ice Cream

Lemon Swiss Roll with Strawberries and Cream

Pasta Styles & Recipes

Red Wine Tart

Russian Gingerbread - Pryaniki

Tocino de Cielo (which is like a Créme Brulée but it really means Bacon from Heaven even though there's no bacon in it!)

Sue there was discussion on pavlovas last year and if it's any help you might like to read it - link below - as there are a few hints in there from J1 and also what I did to achieve a perfect pavlova using Helen's fabulous recipe.
[forum.foodlovers.co.nz]
Regards,
Dawn.

I've made my pavlovas for the last 15 years with a hand held electric beater too. For 11 people, I'd also make two pavlovas (and serve them as two individual pavlovas) rather than doubling the recipe. I also recommend Helen's recipe as linked to by Irene. I've just made Helen's recipe again today and it's turned out perfect, just like it did last year. I beat for 15 minutes total.

To make your own caster sugar, another method worth trying is put ordinary sugar in a plastic bag and then roll over it with a rolling pin until it's as fine as you wish. I haven't tried this so don't know how successful it would be.

An excellent use for spare egg yolks is using them for the coating to crumb schnitzel. It makes the schnitzel extra delicious and creates great stick-ability for the crumbs. Another great use is to make custard (milk, egg yolks, bit of sugar, vanilla essence, cornflour, etc)

I know Helen's recipe information says to store pavlova in an airtight container but I wouldn't do this. Apparently it causes it to weep and go soft. I leave my pavlova in the oven (as it's not airtight but is out of the air) and if I need to use the oven for something else, I put the pavlova on a plate in a cupboard. I've kept mine like this for five days and it was as good as the day I made it. Apparently it will keep for 2 weeks or more like this. The key thing is keeping them dry.

Irene, Helens recipe says 1 & 3/4 cups sugar is that right? Seems a lot i do a similar recipe but with 1 cup sugar.

Lyn V, it's interesting you brought that up because I copied Helen's recipe into my recipe folder last year and have it as 1½ cups of sugar (which equals quarter of a cup of sugar per egg white which I believe is the best ratio for pavlovas) and now I don't know whether Helen has changed her recipe since last year or whether I changed it to suit my belief about the best ratio........

J1 this is what Helen wrote in 2016 and 1 1/2 cups is the amount of sugar I used last year.
Regards,
Dawn.

helen [ PM ]
Re: Pavlova
December 13, 2016 10:27AM Admin
Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 6,871
I made my pavlova yesterday and it was really good.
After hearing some people say that the marshmallow pulled away from the shell I decided to reduce the sugar a bit and see if that helped.
Outcome - yes it did.
I think that 1 1/2 cups of sugar is enough (original recipe says 1 3/4).
It is not a crunchy pavlova but more marshmallow style with a firm shell. By lowering the sugar the shell is less crunchy than the original recipe.
I am not going to change the recipe but will go and add notes in.

Good luck Noeleen!

Ah Dawn, thank you very much for the explanation; you are a whizz.

The Pavlova is in the oven - flash Bosch - with me sitting in the kitchen watching it! I used Helen's recipe - no measuring cups in the house so 12oz of sugar was about right I thought.

I think it will be big enough for us all as there are other desserts as well.

Thanks for all the input everyone.

Great wisdom from all again, Thankyou. Right now am making the pastry for custard squares i like to cook the pastry Donna Hay’s way because it stays nice & crunchy. Pavlova next.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2018 10:17PM by Lyn V.

Oh J1 that is interesting re pavlova storage and something that just didn't occur to me that airtight wouldn't be best.
I may need to do some more testing - but not just yet.

I would NEVER EVER put my pavlovas in an airtight container

I always am aghast when I often read recipes saying that
I leave mine on its platter, just with piece paper over top - or if taking somewhere - in a large flat cardboard box with a lid, that is high enough not to touch the top of it
In summer -
I take whipped cream in lidded bowl in a chilly bag plus the Raspberries and Strawberries, prepared
If winter time, I can take the pavs ready topped w cream and fruit
I make 10 egg pavlovas that are very large but have a couple of 14" lidded boxes that fit my trays

As with Banana cakes, carrot cakes, never airtight, they will sweat
With these, always leave lid partially off or never sealed