meringues and pavolva

Meringues are very easy to make if you follow the rules - this recipe looks very long and complicated for something with only 3 ingredients!  But it is worth following it properly to make sure they turn out well.    A lot of recipes say you should add cornflour but I don't like the taste and much prefer them with just eggs and sugar and a pinch of salt.  If you are making a pavolva base follow the recipe but just make one big meringue with a hollow in the middle and cook it for a little longer.

Ingredients

4 egg whites (at room temperature)

a pinch of salt

1 cup caster sugar

Preheat oven to 120°C.  Measure and prepare all your ingredients.

Bring your eggs to room temperature before using them - cold egg whites incorporate less air than those at room temperature. When you separate the egg whites from the yolks, separate each egg into a small dish or ramekin rather than straight into a large bowl. Transfer the whites and yolks to different bowls before. separating the remaining eggs. This way, if a yolk breaks into a white, you will not spoil all four egg whites. 

The salt will help to stabilise the meringues and help them stiffen before the sugar is added. A pinch of cream tartar can be used in place of the salt if you wish.

Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Have all the required utensils on hand. An electric stand mixer or electric hand beaters with a whisk attachment or a hand balloon whisk can be used to whisk the egg whites - they will all give good results but the texture of the meringue mixture will be slightly different with each.

Place the egg whites and salt in a large, clean, dry mixing bowl. Make sure your egg whites, bowl and whisk attachments are free of any water, or fat such as butter, oil or egg yolks, as this will inhibit the egg whites from incorporating air and producing a good volume. It is best to use a stainless steel, glass, ceramic or copper bowl for whisking egg whites and not plastic as traces of fat are difficult to remove from plastic bowls. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.

Add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking until just combined. The sugar should be added gradually but there is no need to whisk well after each addition. If the sugar is added too slowly, the resulting mixture will be fluffy and not smooth and the meringues an open texture.

After the last of the sugar has been, added, continue to whisk for a further 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is very thick and glossy, all the sugar has dissolved and a long trailing peak forms when the whisk is lifted. The best way to test if all the sugar has dissolved is to rub a little of the mixture between your thumb and forefinger.

If it is smooth, all the sugar has dissolved.  Keep a close eye on the mixture and stop beating as soon as it reaches this stage. If the mixture is overbeaten, the meringues will collapse during cooking and beads of sugar will form on their surface.

Use teaspoons to spoon the mixture onto the lined trays to form the meringues.If you are making meringues dollop large tablespoons of the mixture onto the trays, If you are making a pavlova do one big meringue and hollow out the middle a little for the cream and fruit.  

Place the meringues into the oven and reduce the temperature to 90°C. When you place the meringues in the oven, the initial slightly higher temperature sets their outsides. The lower temperature then dries the meringues rather than bakes them. Leave the oven on for 1 1/2 hours or until the meringues are crisp and sound hollow when tapped on the base. (if you like your meringues chewy, like I do, check them after an hour or so.  Turn the oven off and allow the meringues to cool in the oven - this will take 3-4 hours.

Store the meringues in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Serve with fresh cream.

Pomegranate pavlova

Cover your pavlova base with thick cream and top with pomegranate seeds (the easiest way to get the seeds out whole is to cut the pomegranate in half, and then hit it on the uncut side with a wooden spoon until the seeds fall out.  You can substitute other fruits but try to choose something slightly tart to counteract the sweetness of the meringue).

roasted vegetables

I got the idea for this variation of roasted veg from Nigella (where lots of good ideas come from!) and you can adjust it to your own tastes by changing the type of vegetables.  This recipe is my favourite combination - I love flavour & the orange, red and yellow colours.

Roast vegetables

4 large clean red skinned potatoes

1 large sweet potato

1/2 butternut 

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

2 red onions

2 tsp mixed herbs or braai spice etc (I use Ina Paarman’s Olive and Rosemary seasoning)

salt and pepper 

a couple of glugs of extra olive oil

1 piece Greek feta or haloumi

some baby spinach leaves

Pre heat the oven to 220C.  Cut all the vegetables into bite size pieces.  Put them on a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil and seasoning (don’t pile the veggies too high, use 2 trays if necessary so that they can spread out a bit).  Mix them up with your hands until they are all coated with the oil and seasoning.  Roast for about 40 mins or until they are just cooked.

Chop the feta (or haloumi) into chunks and scatter over the veggies.  Return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt.

Remove from the oven and toss through some baby spinach leaves.  Serve immediately with a roast or steaks or all by itself.

Batesi's coffee ice cream

Simply the best ice cream in the world.  If you don't like coffee you can replace it with vanilla, add fruit etc - the choice is yours.

 Batesi’s coffee ice-cream

1 tin condensed milk

5 tsp Nescafe dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water and then cooled.

2 eggs (separated)

300 ml cream

Pour condensed milk into a bowl.  Beat in the coffee and egg yolks.  Beat the cream until thick and mix into the condensed milk mixture.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold into the mixture with a metal spoon.  Freeze.

potato and broad bean salad

This is a favourite salad with all the family.  It is a little fiddly to shell the broad beans but it’s definitely worth it.

Potato and broad bean salad

 Approx 3/4 kg baby potatoes (or some very clean and scrubbed bigger potatoes)

1 packet frozen broad beans

6 slices bacon

Niki’s salad dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

2 cloves garlic (grated)

1 tsp mustard

Salt and pepper

Cut the potatoes into bite sized chunks and boil in salty water until just cooked.  Dice the bacon and fry until crunchy.  Cook the broad beans according to the packet instructions.

To make the salad dressing put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork until combined.

Drain the potatoes and pour the salad dressing over them while they are still warm.  Take the tough outer shells off the broad beans and mix into the salad, along with the bacon.

Pecan Pie

I used to make the American classic pecan pie all the time in Zim - and I don’t know why I’ve stopped making it here.  It’s really easy to make if you use an all butter ready made pastry or even a partially baked pie shell (or you can make individual tarts).

Pecan Pie

50g softened butter

3 eggs

1 Tbsp flour

1 tsp vanilla

175 g caster sugar

235 mls golden syrup

1 tsp salt

200 g pecans

1 partially baked pie shell*

Beat the butter, sugar and eggs.  Stir in the syrup.  Add flour, salt and vanilla.  

Scatter the pecans into the pie shell and pour the mixture over

Bake on the bottom shelf for 40 to 50 minutes at 350F until barely (top should still feel soft to touch).

Cool.  Serve with whipped cream.

banoffee pie

Bananas, cream, caramel and chocolate.  Need I say more.

Ingredients

(makes 8 small tarts)

8 all-butter pre-made tartlet cases (chocolate or plain)

(You can of course make your own)

or some pre-made chocolate cups.

A can of sweetened condensed milk

2 bananas, sliced

1/2cup mascarpone

1 cup double cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

Chocolate for chocolate curls

cocoa powder for dusting

Remove the label from the can of the condensed milk and put it in the pot completely submerged in water.  Bring to a boil and continue cooking for 1.5-2 hours. Keep checking it to make sure the can is completely covered in water through the duration of cooking or it will explode.  Cool until it’s ready to use. When you open it you will discover that your condensed milk has turned into delicious caramel!  

This step could be done well in advance - up to a couple of weeks beforehand. Just leave the tin unopened.

If you are making your own tart bases, make a batch of pastry, roll it out, cut into rounds and put it in the tart tins.  Put a piece of baking paper on top of the pastry and put in some baking weights or uncooked rice.  Bake for 10 mins at 180 C (160 C in a fan forced oven), then remove the weights and the baking paper and brush with a little beaten egg.  Put the tart shells back in the oven for another 3 minutes to finish baking and then put on a wire rack to cool.

Whip mascarpone with double cream and vanilla until it’s thick.

Spread your caramel equally among 8 tartlets, and top with sliced bananas. Top with cream mixture and chocolate (either grated or curled - see below) and dust with cocoa powder.

For Chocolate Curls:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave and spread it thinly on a baking tray, pop it in the fridge for 3 minutes to set. Take it out and let it stand for a couple of minutes to soften a bit. Drag a knife or a cheese slicer like I did  along the surface of the chocolate to make the curls. When you have enough curls, put them back in the fridge for a couple of minutes to harden.  Dust with cocoa powder.