Pavlova: New Zealand’s National Dessert

LUCY BURDETTE: John and I recently traveled to New Zealand--I can assure you that very little work was accomplished as I was focused on the scenery in this amazing country. Of course, you can't take the mystery writer out of the tourist, so I did come up with a few devious murder weapons. You can read more about that here. One evening, we were treated to Pavlova, which is not only New Zealand’s national dessert, but also Morelea Farms signature dessert. Our host Angie served us a delicious homestyle dinner, followed by Pavlova with whipped cream and kiwi and passion fruit.

I haven’t made pavlova yet, but I guarantee that Angie’s version was perfect and delicious. As she explained her recipe and process, she was making two more pavlovas for guests the next day. She had the kitchen cleaned up before we even finished dinner. A whirlwind in the kitchen!

Morelea Farm’s Pavlova

Ingredients

Four egg whites +4 tablespoons of water.

8 ounces sugar

1 tablespoon corn flour, a.k.a. cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla essence a.k.a. vanilla

1 teaspoon malt vinegar.

The eggs should be at room temperature. Separate the whites from the yolks and beat them with the water until stiff. Slowly add the sugar and beat until stiff and shiny.

Fold in the corn flour, vanilla essence, malt vinegar, taking care not to knock the air out of the meringue.

Mound the egg white mixture onto a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray, smooth out with spatula. Heat the oven to 240°C a.k.a. 464°F and slide the Pavlova onto the bottom rack. Turn the oven off and leave the meringue in the oven until it is entirely cool.

Serve with whipped cream and seasonal fruit. In New Zealand, that would be kiwi and possibly passionfruit.

Note: I am also going to post our trip leader’s mother’s recipe. As you’ll see, the ingredients are approximately the same, but the oven temperature is different. I will adjust this after I’ve tried it, but my impression is lots of different techniques will work! I can assure you that the dessert we had at Morelea Farms was perfect.

Have you made this dessert? How did yours differ from the New Zealand version?

USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join her mailing list right here.

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