It's almost Australia Day and you know what that means - whipping up a Pavlova
I don't have a tried and true recipe because it wasn't something that I made before I got the Thermomix - Dare I say I bought the shells! - So I have used the recipe from the My Way Of Cooking - Thermomix book.
So here goes me trying to explain it to you:
Mill the sugar into icing sugar first as it will then dissolve more quickly. SET ASIDE
EGG TIPS:
- Use fresh eggs (to test if your egg is fresh pop egg into bowl of cold water if it sinks it's good, if it floats it's time to go and if it sinks but stands up then it's almost ready to go)
- Cold eggs separate easily, but eggs whip to a higher volume when at room temperature. So separate your eggs when they are cold and leave to come to room temperature.
- Separate eggs into a glass or ceramic (not plastic as it can retain grease) bowl first, separating one egg at a time to ensure NO YOLK gets mixed into your batch. If a little gets in use your egg shell to scoop out NOT your finger, as your finger may be greasy.
- A small amount of cream of tartar or vinegar can be added to the mixture at the beginning of whipping to help stabilize the foam and make it less likely to collapse.
- To help egg whites expand, pre-heat TM bowl for 30 sec, 50 degrees, Speed 1.
So here are some ground rules first for your TM Bowl:
- Bowl, blades and butterfly must be perfectly clean and free from all grease – this can be achieved by doing the vinegar wash first which is in your Every Day Cookbook.
- The bowl/blade/lid and butterfly must be perfectly dry.
- The use of the butterfly is essential.
- The measuring cup (MC) must be off as this allows more air into the meringue.
After whipping the eggs:
I pop the lid on with the MC on and load up the top lid with the sugar, start the thermomix and allow the sugar to gently fall into the mixture.
Once it has all fallen through I take out the MC and use a teaspoon to gradually drop the sugar into the bowl.
Here is my end product BEFORE baking.
Some baking tips:
- If at all possible try to avoid making meringues on humid days as the humidity can cause meringues to be sticky and chewy.
- Meringue is best baked at a low temperature because they tend to brown quickly.
- Allow the meringue to remain in the oven after baking. Leave the meringue in the oven (turned off) for at least 2 hours with the oven door ajar. Then leave it in the oven all night. This helps dry it out.
If you have had a success with a pavlova please feel free to share, if you haven't then please ask and if I can help I will. Although I am not a pavlova specialist by any means.
For more ThermoFun hints and tips Click Here.
For more “Techie Tuesday” blog posts Click Here.
For more great tips and recipes on using your thermomix join our free monthly newsletter here: ThermoFun Newsletter Subscription.
Click Here for more great recipes in a number of e-cookbooks – containing recipes to suit everyone.
Dami says
Thanks so much! Never had any success with pav or meringue in the thermo... untill I tried your tricks... I still need to work on the cooking time and temp but my pre-cooking pav was perfect!
thermofun says
Fabulous to hear Dami! Thank you! Sadly all ovens vary from one to another and can be quite a challenge working it out!
Lulu says
I really should have taken photos. I had 4 egg whites and within a minute they were close to being a solid mass. I had heard all dreadful reports on how it was impossible to make a pav in it, but still I really wanted to try and had the willpower after reading your post. I experimented a little - after washing Thermie out really well with detergent and hot water and rinsing with very hot water, I half filled it with hot water, let it sit a couple of minutes then tipped it out, dried it quickly( but not that well as I figure vinegar has some water in it ), tipped the egg whites in, a teaspoon of vinegar, a teaspoon of cornflour and boom. Explosion of whipped egg whites. I live in Turkey and our eggs are super fresh. I had frozen the whites previously and thawed them earlier in the day but they were still a little cold in the jar. However I do think tipping them into the warm bowl was probably why it worked so well, after doing all the research. I then added the sugar and instant coffee that I had previously blended in Thermie to make a coffee castor sugar mix that I wanted to experiment with, (can't get castor sugar over here) and literally the mix was totally up to the brim. It was so impressive. Thank you for the giving me the confidence to give it a go. No looking back! Definitely no need to keep my other kitchen appliances. I know now that Thermie can handle it all!
Minnie says
I have had NO luck at all making pavlova meringue in the Thermomix. The eggs always whisk up great but by the time I have added all the sugar, the mix has become too sloppy and no longer stiff. I have followed your recipe and others exactly and it always happens. I am about to buy and electric hand mixer for this (and cream) as I just can't seem to master it at all. I have tried recipes with vinegar, with cornflower and without both and have tried with caster sugar and powdered sugar. I live in the UK (so no humidity issues here). Wish I hadn't given my Kenwood away now. Any tips gratefully received!
thermofun says
Sorry to hear you haven't had much luck Minnie :( I guess the most important tip is to start of with a perfectly dry bowl.
Suzy says
Is it ok for me to say try wiping your bowl inside with A half a lemon
thermofun says
I haven't tried that Suzy but if it works thank you for sharing your idea and commenting. :)
Karn says
Hello Leonie, how far in advance do you think a pavlova can be made, just the meringue part, not the cream etc. Many thanks
thermofun says
I'm guessing but I'd say 3 days Karen?
Carol says
Great photos and lovely, simple explanations! Well done...
thermofun says
Thank you Carol! :)