Pavlova

I sliced a portion of the cake to check the consistency. Yea, I was worried it wasn’t marshmallow-y in the inside. But it was! Hooray!

This is my first attempt at making pavlova. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how easy it is to make. Maybe next time I’ll try to make meringue cookies.

Recipe from Klutzy Cook. Changes made in red.

Ingredients

6 egg whites Used 10 Jumbo egg whites
1 ½ cups caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
½ teaspoon white vinegar
300ml thickened cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar mixture Didn’t use
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Didn’t use
Fresh fruit to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 120C (250F) (100C/210F fan forced).

Mark a circle (around 22cm) on a large piece of baking paper as an outline. Line a baking tray with the marked baking paper.

Place the egg whites into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Add the caster sugar 2 tablespoons at a time while continuing to beat the egg mixture. Allow time between each addition for the sugar to dissolve.

Once the sugar has dissolved (test the mixture by rubbing some between your fingers – if you can feel some sugar granules, continue beating the mixture), add the cornflour and vinegar. Beat for 1 minute.

Spoon the meringue mixture onto the baking tray and using a flat knife or spatula, shape it into the circle and smooth.

Bake in oven for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm. Turn off oven and allow pavlova to cool in the oven for 2 to 3 hours with door slightly ajar.

To make the whipped cream topping, beat cream, icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread on top of cooled pavlova. Decorate pavlova with fresh fruit and serve.

Leche Flan

It took me about 4 tries before I reached the taste and consistency of leche flan that I like. The first batch was too firm and too milky. The second was too sweet, you could almost get a headache from the sugar high. *he he* The third one, using soy milk for the first time, was bland but the fourth, came out alright.

Ingredients:

For the flan -

8 XL egg yolks

1/2 can Carnation condensed milk

1 can Carnation evaporated milk

1 can Soy milk (I used the evaporated milk can to measure)

For the caramel -

1/4 cup white sugar per llanera.

Blessed Soul

With access to the television 24×7, I can say that I’ve watched a good number of news and updates about the Victoria bush fires.  What I’m enjoying to see nowadays are the relief operations that regular people (meaning not the government officials or servants) undertake to help rebuild the communities.

Donations poured in like mad and the victims could not be happier.  There is one guy who lost a lot of family and friends, spearheaded a campaign to give out campers/trailers, generators and practically every essential item in the household to fellow victims.  There were car lifts used to bring down the heavy generators and quite a number of campers set up.  Families have since moved in to the campers from the tents and public buildings they have sought refuge from during the height of the fires.  God bless that man’s soul.

No Krispy Kreme For Now

For two weekends in a row last month, we brought home Krispy Kreme donuts.  We stayed away from it for a long time because we all know how sweet their flavors are but at that time, we gave in to those tempting treats.  When we brought a box home and had some for breakfast the following day, I munched into something ‘rubbery’.

I spat it out of course and realized that it was a thumb-size portion of what looks like a latex glove!  What I did is to put it in a zip-lock bag and decided to bring it to the store at Macquarie Center, here in Sydney.  Along with friends, we went to the store and the lady there initially offered KK vouchers, which I declined to get.  What if the rest of the donuts have the remaining portion of the “latex glove”? Hah!

So, she said that she’ll bring the “sample” to their head office and promised to call me back.  It’s been over a month now and still, there was no call.  I know it’s not as alarming as seeing a dead ant, fly or rat on the donut.  But I feel that they could’ve done better in dealing with the problem.

So for now, goodbye Krispy Kreme.

Yo! to Yoghurt

Since I first tasted fruit yoghurt here in Sydney, I got hooked!  I now almost always have a supply of a pint of this healthy, yummy goodness.  I even give a serving to my daughter who seems to like it, too.  My favorite flavor is currently mango but I would like to try out YoPlait’s Favorites series soon!

Read more about its health benefits and origin, here.

[Image source: http://www.yoplait.com.au]