Aussie Invasion

Recently we had some friends from Australia to stay with us for the weekend and those of you who see my on Facebook know that I agonised about what to make for dessert for a few days. What better conversation starter to have for dessert than a Pavlova. Our rivalry for ownership of this classic dessert is well known

I'm not a huge fan of Pavlova and it wouldn't be my first choice if I was presented with it on a dessert menu but I wanted something that I could make the night before and I didn't want to do a tart or a pie or anything to "bready" since we were having a pasta bake with fresh bread a salad for our main course.

A friend at work suggested Pavlova roll filled with lemon curd but the recipe I had from the cookbook I started as a newlywed called for crushed pineapple and toasted almonds.

Pavlova Roll
Serves 6

Ingredients
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 teaspoon cornflour/cornstarch
8 tablespoons caster sugar
1 bottle cream, whipped
1 medium tin crushed pineapple, drained
Flaked almonds

Method
Beat egg whites and add cornflour
Beat slightly and add vinegar and vanilla
While still beating add 6 tablespoons of sugar and beat until stiff and glossy
Fold in remaining sugar
Grease bottom and sides of a swiss roll tin and line with baking paper
Spread mixture into tin and sprinkle with almonds
Bake at 180 degrees C for 15 minutes or until brown
Take a piece of baking paper and sprinkle it with sugar
Tip cooked pav onto this and gently peel the paper lining off
Cool slightly
(At this stage it can be stored loosely wrapped in the fridge until a few hours before serving)
Spread with whipped cream
Top with fruit
Roll up long edge to form a log - good luck with that!
Refrigerate for at least two hours

I used my stand mixer and got great volume with my egg whites so my pavlova was too thick to roll and didn't look very pretty it still tasted great though. The tart pineapple, and crunchy almonds are a good foil to the sugary marshmallow and velvety whipped cream.




On Saturday the weather was revolting so we took a drive to the Wairarapa to visit a few wineries. We picked up some nice Pinot Noir from Te Kairanga and some Pinot Gris from Ata Rangi. At Ata Rangi I picked up a very styley t-shirt.




We also visited Shoc Chocolates in Greytown and purchased some yummy treats. Check out their interesting flavour combinations such as Tequila, Lime and Rock Salt which are exquisitely hand painted white chocolate hearts streaked with red, yellow and green or Wasabi and Ginger Truffle. Their tablet chocolate comes in amazing flavours and I sampled some strawberry and black pepper. I picked up a trio of treats to send to my BFF but their flavours will have to be a surprise. I hope she likes them.