Ingredients
Serves 6-8
One Bowl Pavlova
6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
For serving:
300ml thicken or double cream
Kiwi fruit, seasonal berries and passion fruit
Lamingtons
For Butter Cake:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2/3 cup milk
125 g butter, softened
2 cups self raising flour, sifted
For Chocolate Icing
2 cups fine desiccated coconut
1/3 cup cocoa powder
½ cup boiling water
2 cups icing sugar.
Method
One Bowl Pavlova
Preheat oven to 180˚C.
With a pencil draw a circle approximately 24cm (diameter) on a sheet of Baking Paper then put pencil side down onto a baking tray.
Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat gently. This usually can take 15 minutes until glossy white and soft peaks form. You should be able to hold bowl upside down without the mixture falling out.
Then, using your pencil mark as a guide, spoon mixture onto the baking paper, with slightly higher sides and a dip if the centre (this is supposed to resemble a tutu).
Reduce oven temp to 150˚C and bake for 20 minutes.
Then reduce heat to 110˚C and bake for 40 minutes (this could take up to 50 minutes depending on your oven).
Turn off oven and allow pavlova to cool completely inside oven until the oven is cold.
When cool, slide Pavlova off baking paper onto plate and decorate with the whipped cream and fruit of own choice.
Tip:
I make mine in the evening that way it has all night to cool down in the oven.
Lamingtons
For Butter Cake:
Preheat oven to 180˚C.
Grease or line a 26cmx16cm tin.
Put all ingredients into a bowl. Using low speed on Electric mixer beat until blended. Then beat on high speed for 3 minutes.
Spoon mixture into prepared tin.
Reduce temperature to 160˚C. Bake 50-60 minutes.
Cake is ready when skewer come clean from centre of cake. Take cake from oven wait 3 minutes then turn out cake onto a tea-towel covered cake rack.
If using cake for lamingtons, you can put whole cake in a container or oven bag overnight then cut into squares the next day, or, when cool cut into squares and place in fridge over night, ready for the next day.
To ice lamingtons:
Sift icing sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl (heatproof).
Add the boiling water and mix thoroughly to combine.
Place a sheet of baking paper on a wire rack and sprinkle a thin layer of coconut on it.
Place remaining coconut in a bowl.
Take a square of cake, put a 2 prong fork into the corner, then dip the cake into the warm icing one at a time, let the excess drip off.
Put chocolate covered square into bowl of coconut and roll in coconut.
Now take your lamington and place on the coconut covered rack, and repeat method again.
Tip:
If icing begins to thicken, place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stir icing until it is warm and thin again.