A few months ago mum and I took a weekend away in Sydney to spend a wedding weekend with my bridesmaid Kristin.
We had a lovely weekend talking weddings and girly things and a little bit too much eating.
It was on this trip that I had my first meal at Bills. I'd been wanting to eat there ever since I made my first Bill Granger recipe - coconut bread earlier in the year.
I blogged about our meal and the star of the lunch - the brown sugar pavlova with yoghurt cream.
As soon as I got home it was straight to Google to find the recipe and this week I whipped it up for my mum's friend Annie's (owner of the chicken with the giant egg) Birthday.
It was every bit as fabulous as the real deal.
I will most definitely be repeating this recipe. It's the perfect summer dessert.
In case you're wondering why yesterday was Silent Saturday and I'm not so quiet today, I am taking part in the Australian Pavlova Blog Hop!
Brown sugar and caster sugar together make the most delicious pavlova base.
To make sure your pavlova is round, trace out a 20cm circle on the underside of baking paper and place it on the tray.
A little lesson from my mistake - if you're going to be transporting the pavlova or storing it at all, make sure you measure your container and make sure the pavlova will fit. It will puff out an extra centimeter or two while it bakes.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites together with the cream of tartar until they soft peaks form.
This is what it looks like after a few minutes.
With the motor running, add the sugars to the bowl one tablespoon-full at a time.
When all the sugar has been added, stop the beater for a minute and scrape down all the sides so there are no sugar crystals left.
Continue beating until the mixture is nice and thick and glossy.
Resist the urge to eat the raw mixture by the spoonful. I couldn't I licked the spatula.
Oh boy was it good.
Please remember that it's just raw egg whites and sugar so eating it raw isn't such a good idea unless you have really good eggs.
Mine were free-range organic eggs from the markets so I'm hoping they were ok.
Take the bowl off the stand and stir in the white vinegar, cream of tartar and corn flour.
I thought I had cream of tartar in the pantry but I was wrong so I used an extra tablespoon of corn flour instead.
Heap the meringue onto the baking tray and spread it out to the edges of the circle.
Try not to have too man thin bits sticking out or they will burn. Smooth it out with a spatula so it has a little bit of a border to hold the topping in.
Put the tray in the middle of the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 130C fan-forced (it will have been pre-heated to 200C).
Bake the pavlova for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Turn the oven off and open the door just a fraction.
Let the pavlova cool completely in the oven.
I left mine in there for 4 hours and had the air-con on.
It takes a while.
After I took this photo I decided a little vanilla bean paste would perfect the yoghurt cream.
To make the yoghurt cream, whip the cream, yoghurt and vanilla bean paste together until it is thick.
Mix the strawberries with the honey while the beater works its magic.
It's hard to resist eating this too!
Mine collapsed a little but the beauty of a pavlova is it's allowed to be messy.
Spread the yoghurt cream over the top and the top with the honeyed strawberries.
Serve it immediately and enjoy!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 225 g 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
- 80 g ⅓ cup soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot
- 2 teaspoon white vinegar
- to serve
- 300 ml 11oz cream
- 150 g 5oz Greek yoghurt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or use extract
- 500 g 18oz strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 –2 tbsps honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C(392F) fan-forced.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw a 20cm (diameter) circle on the underside of the paper. Place the paper on the tray so that the circle is facing down but you can still see it through the paper.
- Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites together with the cream of tartar and vanilla extract until they form soft peaks.
- With the motor running, tip the sugars in 1 tablespoon at a time making sure each one is mixed in before adding the next.
- Continue to beat until the mixture is glossy and smooth.
- Remove the bowl from the stand and gently stir in the corn flour, arrowroot and white vinegar.
- Spread the mixture evenly into the circle.
- Put the tray in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 130C(266F) and bake the pavlova for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- Turn the oven off and open the oven door just a fraction. Let the pavlova cool completely in the oven (at least 3 hours).
- Meanwhile make the yoghurt cream by whipping the yoghurt, vanilla and cream together until soft peaks form.
- Mix the strawberries and honey together.
- Serve the pavlova spread with yoghurt cream and topped with honey strawberries.
Liz says
Ahh, the second person to mention a brown sugar pav. I think this is a MUST for me to make now!
Claire says
You will have to Liz it's delicious!
Katherine Martinelli says
Oh wow, I bet the brown sugar is just delicious in this! What a wonderful idea. I can't wait to try this recipe, thanks!
Claire says
It's so delicious. Give it a go!
molly kelly says
It was very yummy!
Claire says
Thanks mum. Glad you liked it!
Anna says
this was DELICIOUS
Claire says
Thanks sis!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Mmm I love brown sugar pavlova! It's so delicious and yours looks like a beauty Claire! :D
Claire says
Thanks Lorraine. I went back for seconds so it was definitely a winner!
Celia says
Beautiful, Claire! The brown sugar sounds like a wonderful variation!
Claire says
I just saw your weekend pavlova Celia. It was a little bit better looking than mine but yes the brown sugar really makes it!
Shannon says
Yum! My mum used raw sugar once when we ran out of caster sugar and now we use it all the time (half caster, half raw) and it tastes so much better. Interested to see what using brown sugar would be like!
Claire says
What a great mistake! I think the brown sugar gives it a richer flavour so it's not as sweet. I know that doesn't really make sense seeing as it's still sugar but it's so much more delicious!
The Café Sucré Farine says
Claire, we are just the same in that when I have something delicious in a restaurant I can hardly wait to get home and start googling and mixing and experimenting until I have it just right! :) Your pavlova looks fabulous! My heritage is German and we grew up eating something similar but the Germans call it schaumtorte - I really think every nationality has their own version of this delicious dessert! YUM YUM YUM!
Claire says
It's always fun to try and figure out the ingredients too!
I'll have to look up schaumtorte but you're right, there are lots of versions. The Kiwi's actually claim to have invented pavlova but we Aussies don't like to believe them.
Nic@diningwithastud says
ZOMG that yoghurt cream sounds awesome. Thanks for joining Claire :)
Claire says
It's so good. The perfect balance of the two and I think the vanilla perfected it. Thanks for letting me know about it!
Michelle says
The Bill Granger brown sugar pav seems popular! Looks great delicious!
Claire says
It is delicious!
penny aka jeroxie says
Must use brown sugar next time. It sounds amazing
Claire says
Sounds and tastes!
Jennifer (Delicieux) says
Gorgeous pavlova!! :D I love the sound of the yoghurt cream. I've never heard of that before.
Claire says
Yoghurt cream is fabulous. It's light and a little tangy. Thanks for hosting the blog hop!
Christina @ The Hungry Australian says
Your pavlova looks fantastic. I like the addition of brown sugar and the greek yoghurt would help cut through the sweetness with a nice tang. I'll have to try that next time :D
Claire says
It seemed to be the perfect amount of sweetness. Well it was enough that I went back for seconds!
Lizzy (Good Things) says
Ah, Claire, a girl after my own heart! Bill Granger's brown sugar pav is a winner! Lovely post.
Claire says
It's a big winner! I'll most definitely be re-creating it soon.