We don’t really care who invented the Pav!
What we care about is that it WAS invented.
Then we took it one step further.
Introducing the Ironclad Pav.
Cooking a Pav in your Pan is a miracle of alchemy and produces the most-crunchy-of-crusts and the fluffiest of inches-high-fluffy-centres. With “Slave free” dark chocolate @tony’schocolonely and “make you brainy” @ārepa powdered blackcurrants elevating the humble pav to new heights.
If you’ve never made a pav before and wondered if you had what it takes. Quite simply you do.
Ironclad Pav Pointers.
Separate your eggs one by one into a cup to ensure not a skerrick of egg yolk gets into those whites before you whisk them.
Rub a lemon half over the basin and whisk attachments of your mixer of choice before you beat up the egg whites, to remove any trace of fat.
Don’t forget to add salt to the mix, it helps balance out the sweetness.
Don’t rush. There’s something meditative about those egg whites turning glossy and thick. Enjoy the journey. You know the destination!
Do not open the oven door while it’s cooking. Have a quick peek to admire the puffy and fluffy beauty within and then shut the oven door until the pav is well cooled. It will take 6 hours or overnight.
Serves 6
PAVLOVA
6 large egg whites
½ t fine salt
350g caster sugar
1 t vanilla essence
1 t white vinegar
3 t cornflour
40g Tony’s 70% dark chocolate, melted
ĀREPA CREAM
2 c whipping cream
4 T ārepa Nootropic Powder
1½ T icing sugar
BOYSENBERRY COULIS
2 c frozen boysenberries
1 c sugar
Juice 1 lemon
Pinch salt
*** You’ll only use a few T of this, so store leftovers in a jar in the fridge. It will keep just like jam.
TO SERVE
Freeze-dried raspberries
Extra fresh boysenberries
METHOD
Heat oven to 150°C. Not fan bake.
In your high-speed cake mixer, use the whisk attachment to whip the egg whites and salt until stiff. Add sugar 1 T at a time and slowly count to 20 between each addition. Mix on high speed for a further 7 minutes until very stiff and creamy and when you rub the mix between your fingers there is no grainy sugar feeling.
Lightly whisk in the vanilla essence, white vinegar and sifted cornflour until all are well combined.
While the egg whites are doing their thing, cut a piece of baking paper to the same size as the bottom of your Legacy pan and stick it down with a few small blobs of pavlova mix. Place a smaller plate, 16 - 17cm in diameter, on top of the paper and draw a circle around it.
Drop the pavlova mix in large spoonfuls inside the inner circle. It will be 4 - 5 inches high. Then drizzle the melted chocolate over the meringue and swirl lightly with a fork.
Turn the oven down to 120°C and bake the pavlova for 1 hour in the centre of the oven without opening the door. Leave in the oven with the door shut to cool down for at least 6 hours or overnight.
To make the Boysenberry Coulis pop all ingredients in a pot and simmer for 3 - 4 minutes until the sugar has melted. Lightly strain the boysenberries out of the syrup and return the syrup to the heat and simmer another 2 - 4 minutes until the mix is thick and glossy but not caramelised. Cool. (Keep berries separate from the coulis).
To make the Ārepa cream, beat all ingredients together until thick and glossy. Don’t over beat.
To assemble, drop spoonfuls of ārepa cream into the middle of the pav, don’t push the cream all the way to the edge or you’ll lose the chocolate swirl.
Arrange boysenberries and any other fresh fruit you might like on top and finish with a swirl of coulis and a sprinkle of dried raspberries.
Serve immediately. And give three cheers to Christmas 2022! We made it!
