4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar, castor
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla flavour
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. With an electric mixer beat the egg
whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add the sugar. Beat
until firm.
Add the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla. When combined, turn out onto
a flat tray that has been greased and dusted with cornflour. Try a
circular shape with slightly more mixture at the edges so that it may
be served by placing goodies in its centre depression.
Cook in a pre-heated, cool (250 degrees F.) oven for one hour. When
cooked, turn the oven off, leave the oven door slightly ajar, and
allow to cool slowly in the oven. This slow cooling works to prevent
the loss of too much height. Serve cold, with whipped cream and fresh
fruit pieces, strawberries and kiwi fruit for example.
NOTES:
* Australian meringue dessert.
* Cornflour is known in North America as cornstarch. Castor sugar is
known there as granulated sugar.
* Make sure that you start off with a clean bowl and beat the egg
whites well. A bowl with smooth sides (glass, metal) will help the
eggs to whip up. A plastic bowl with scratches prevents the eggs from
attaining a very light texture. Also ensure that the sugar is fully
dissolved before going on to the next step. I have never had troubles
from over-whipping. The final texture should be meringue on the
inside with a thin crust on the outside.
: Difficulty: moderate.
: Time: 30 minutes preparation, 1 hour cooking, 1 hour cooling.
: Precision: Measure the ingredients.
: Alex Patison UUCP: {pyrcorp,sun}!pta!alex
: Pyramid Technology Australia ACSNET: alex@pta.oz
: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust
Servings: 6 servings
Pavlova Ii Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Australian
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to trace the history of written cooking instructions way back into ancient history, in truth as far back as early Egypt, and maybe even further. In practice though, sadly, these old records were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for meal preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to food historians are some clay tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making those who drank it feel wonderful. Moving on, we have two books which appeared in the 1300s : a book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, these two books are unconnected to the curry that is familiar to us all today, but rather accounts of the types of meals on the tables of the nobility of those days. During the following few centuries, the rich families of Europe tried to offer the most exotic meals, and because of this chefs and their collection of recipes could command a high salary. Notwithstanding that, it was during the nineteenth century that formal cookery and recipe books rose to prominence. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, spent years to assembling, testing, and writing down popular recipes of the day. By the advent of the 1900s, recipe books were starting to become popular mostly as a result of higher levels of literacy, leisure time and having more money to spend. The revolution that is television brought us celebrity TV chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of the internet, allowing us all to access thousands of recipes like those on this web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Pavlova Ii recipe.
