Pretty to look, Yummy to taste - Pavlova!

I love pretty things, pretty stationary, pretty flowers, pretty pictures, pretty people - just about pretty ever thing:)
may be that makes me kind of shallow, but well what can I do! Pretty things make me go weak in the knees….even my dessert choices are based on how they look. So there has been this one particular dessert I have been eyeing, even though I had never tasted it before, but it looked so pretty– its called a Pavlova!

Pretty pretty to look at and now that I actually tasted it, quiet yummy to eat! :)

Borrowing a little bit of history from Joy Of Baking, that’s also where the recipe came from.

Pavlova (Pav) is a meringue cake that has a light and delicate crisp crust and a soft sweet marshmallow center. This lovely dessert is typically served with softly whipped cream and fresh fruit.

There is a long standing debate about whether New Zealand or Australia invented this dessert, which has yet to be resolved. What we do know is that the name, Pavlova, was chosen in honor of the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who toured both New Zealand and Australia in 1926.

A Pavlova is a meringue, and it is important when making any meringue that the egg whites reach maximum volume, so make sure your mixing bowl and whisk are clean and free of grease. Since we need just the whites of the eggs, the eggs will need to be separated. It is easier to do this while the eggs are still cold. Once separated, cover the egg whites and let them come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes). Cover and refrigerate the egg yolks for another use. Use superfine sugar (castor) when making this meringue as it dissolves faster into the egg whites than regular granulated white sugar. You can make your own by processing 1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar in your food processor until very fine, about 30 - 60 seconds.

Storage & Serving:
The Pavlova can be made several days in advance of serving, if it is stored in a cool dry place, in an airtight container. A Pavlova is usually served with softly whipped cream and fresh fruit.

Try to place the whipped cream and fruit on the meringue shortly before serving as the Pavlova will immediately start to soften and break down from the moisture of the cream and fruit.



Ingredients:

4 large (120 grams) egg whites
2 Tablespoon Castor Sugar (the original recipe used 1 cup sugar - too sweet for my taste)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (corn flour)

Topping:
1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tablespoons (20 grams) granulated white sugar (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Fresh fruit - kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, passion fruit, peaches, pineapple, or other fruit of your choice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (130 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a 7 inch (18 cm) circle on the paper. Turn the parchment paper over so the circle is on the reverse side.

2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until they hold soft peaks.

3. Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat, on high speed, until the meringue holds very stiff and shiny peaks. (Test to see if the sugar is fully dissolved by rubbing a little of the meringue between your thumb and index finger. The meringue should feel smooth, not gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers).

4. Beat in the vanilla extract.

5. Sprinkle the vinegar and cornstarch over the top of the meringue and, with a rubber spatula, gently fold in.

6. Spread the meringue inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper, smoothing the edges, making sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher than the center. (You want a slight well in the center of the meringue to place the whipped cream and fruit.)

7. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until the outside is dry and is a very pale cream color.

8. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar, and let the meringue cool completely in the oven. (The outside of the meringue will feel firm to the touch, if gently pressed, but as it cools you will get a little cracking and you will see that the inside is soft and marshmallowy.)

The cooled meringue can be made and stored in a cool dry place, in an airtight container, for a few days. Just before serving gently place the meringue onto a serving plate.

Topping:
Whip the cream in your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, until soft peaks form. Sweeten with the sugar and vanilla and then mound the softly whipped cream into the center of the meringue. Arrange the fruit randomly, or in a decorative pattern, on top of the cream. Serve immediately as this dessert does not hold for more than a few hours.

Serves 6 to 8.

Happy Baking! :)

Tiramisu!

Happy New Year!!

What better way to begin the New Year with a dessert as yummy as tiramisu! For all those who don’t know what tiramisu is, it is basically an Italian dessert, pronounced as "tih-ruh-mee-SOO") invented in the 1960's at the El Touga restaurant in Treviso, Italy.

Literally translated Tiramisu means "pick me up" or "carry me up", which probably refers to the jolt you get after eating espresso and alcohol laced ladyfingers. It is often called an 'Italian Trifle" because, like any trifle, it has layers. In this case, ladyfingers are dipped in a mixture of coffee (espresso) and alcohol (rum or Marsala), and then they are layered with a custard that has been mixed with mascarpone cheese.

Mascarpone, pronounced mas-kahr-POH-nay, is a soft unripened cheese that belongs to the cream cheese family. It is a thick, buttery-rich, sweet and velvety, ivory-colored cheese, with a delicate and mild flavor, produced from cow's milk that has the texture of clotted or sour cream.

 

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/Tiramisu.html#ixzz19lNplOaS

Well this is a little bit of background on the actual dessert and its ingredients; however I have localized it to fit my taste and culture of course. So, my recipe naturally does not include wine, have replaced it with chocolate syrup. Original tiramisu uses zabaglione, which is an egg yolk custard. I tried it but didn’t really like the eggy taste so I replaced that as well. I am a coffee person, hence I used coffee flavored cream instead. So if you really look at it my tiramisu its like a Pakistani version of the Italian dessert, with chocolate, fresh cream, coffee cream, chocolate sauce and of course the “Savoiardi” or lady fingers. Ladyfingers form the base of this dessert, and these finger-shaped cookies made with a sponge cake batter. Again, I did some customization here as well and instead of experimenting (which I did once and failed miserably:() I made a square vanilla egg sponge cake and cut it into the lady fingers size and shape to form the base. So, really should I even call it a tiramisu that is the question :p;) :p but I will, it still has the pick me up effect from the coffee!


Coming quickly towards the recipe, first let me list down the different individual components that make up the final dessert.
1. Lady Fingers or Sponge Cake
2. Whipped Fresh Cream
3. Coffee Cream
4. Mascarpone Cheese
5. Chocolate sauce / Chocolate Ganache
6. Chocolate shavings
7. Coffee concentrate / syrup

Lady Fingers:
Sponge Cake recipe I have already shared with you here, instead of baking it in a round 8 inch pan I used a rectangle dish around approx 10 by 5 inches. Once baked, cooled in fridge for 10 to 15 minutes, I cut them into rectangles. You can cut them into any shape, any size you wish.

Whipped Cream:
1. Chilled fresh cream approx 450 - 500ml (approx 2 packets each 200ml)
2. 4 tbsp Icing sugar
Just beat these together until soft peaks form. Please don’t overbeat as it could become runny and loose its shape.

Coffee whipped Cream:
Use half (250 ml) of the whipped cream mixture, add1 teaspoon ground coffee powder and mix together.

Mascarpone Cheese:
You can buy ready made cheese from any super store, or make it by following the process below, I found this extremely easy to make as opposed to buying the ready made very expensive version. Since I don’t like extremely sweet desserts, I generally decrease the sugar content in which ever way possible. So I dint use sugar with the cheese, just beat it to give it a nice texture of spreading consistency.
(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)

Ingredients:
Full fat fresh cream 200ml / 1 packet
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or Fruit vinegar

Method:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.

It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.

Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

Coffee concentrate: Add 2 tsp coffee and 2 tsp sugar in one cup water, bring to boil.

Chocolate Sauce / syrup -> I used ready made hershey’s chocolate sauce

You can also use the chocolate ganache that I discussed here.

Chocolate shavings -> just use a peeler to peel some shreds off the cooking chocolate bar

Assembly:
1. Cover the base of the serving dish with the lady fingers.
2. Drizzle coffee concentrate to moisten the sponge cake.
3. Spread the mascarpone cheese layer over the lady fingers.
4. Next put the chocolate sauce layer, then the coffee cream layer.
5. Cover the coffee cream layer with the lady fingers.
6. Repeat the above process of layering, finishing it off with the lady fingers layers.
7. Cover the entire visible surface with whipped cream
8. Finish off by garnishing with chocolate shavings
9. Can also dust the surface with coco powder
10. Chill the dessert before serving, tastes best when chilled and firm enough to be cut properly.

Happy Baking! :)

Please excuse my photography in this post, my camera died ...cell phone camera to the rescue! :)

Peach Crumble!

I was craving for a fruity delight and guess who came to my rescue ;)...yes Bakerella!!! (its like shes turning into my baking god fairy ) anyway ...so yea it was yummmmy!!! 

So, heres how it was made....
1. Emptied a can of peaches along with the syrup into a big glass dish.

 2. Added one cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp baking power ...mixed them all together in a separate bowl and dumped them over the peaches.

3. Take 100gms butter (unslated) cut into cubes and spread over the dry layer.

4. Take 1/2 cup brown sugar, half cup chopped nuts (i used almonds and cashew nuts, you can use walnuts also), few white chocolate chips(optional) and sprinkle all over the dish.

 
 5. Preheat oven @180 degrees....bake for 40-60 mins....Voilllla.......yummilicious dessert readyy....so simple so easy an absolutely worth trying!

Take some out for neighbors.........

Sprinkle with nuts ..................

Garnish with Heavy Cream...................

and let the magic begin .....in your mouth i mean ;) !!

Happy Baking !!