Simple Strawberry Pavlova

So, yesterday was World Baking Day. I decided to 'bake brave' by making something I've never made before...a pavlova. It might not be the most complicated dessert ever but I've wanted to make one for so long and just never got round to it.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and it was so simple to make, I can't believe I put it off for so long. I kept it simple by keeping the cream just softly whipped, adding no extra sugar or icing sugar and I just topped it with halved strawberries. I planned to make a compote from the strawberries and some rhubarb but we went for a 2 hour walk round Knypersley Reservoir and by the time we got back I was too tired to do anything else except halve the strawberries and arrange them on top. I think it looks really nice though, especially the contrast between the red and the white.

The meringue came out perfectly. It was crunchy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside and went so well with the sweet strawberries. I kept finding Nick scoffing spoonfuls of pavlova...always a good sign of a well done dessert. I'm off to visit one of my best friends at the weekend for her birthday and I promised I'd bring a cake so I'm thinking up some really good recipes and I'll share it with you when I've baked it. I love it when I get to make cakes for an actual celebration. 

On another note I wanted to ask you all a big favour. I would love it if you would nominate me for Best Food Blog in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013. You can do so by heading to the Cosmo site here.

Simple Strawberry Pavlova
(meringue adapted from BBC Good Food)

4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

600ml double cream, softly whipped

230g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

1. Preheat your oven to 160 C/270 F. In a dry, clean bowl whisk your egg whites until stiff. Gradually add the sugar and keep whisking until it becomes thick and glossy. Add in the cornflour and white wine vinegar and whisk again. 
2. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and draw round a dinner plate in the middle so you know how big to make your pavlova base. Dab a little mixture onto the baking tray itself to get the greaseproof paper to stick. Spoon the mixture onto the centre of the dinner plate circle and, using a palette knife, spread it out towards the edges (but not right upto the edge) and create a dip on the middle so it's almost like a very shallow bowl. 
3. Turn the oven down to 100 C/210 F and place the baking tray on the middle shelf. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. When finished, turn the oven off and open the oven door slightly. Let it cool completely before removing. 
4. In the meantime, whip the cream and slice the strawberries. When cooled, transfer carefully to the plate and spoon the cream over the middle of the base. Arrange the strawberries on top and give it a light dusting with icing sugar before serving.

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World Baking Day 19th May

This Sunday is World Baking Day. The theme for this year is helping bakers bake brave. If you head on over to their website you'll find 100 recipes from bloggers and bakers all over the world ranked in order of their difficulty. My chocolate coconut cupcakes are ranked at 69, so a little brave but they are delicious. Number 1 on the list are these delicious looking banana muffins. I need to work my way through that top 100. 

I'm excited to be a World Baking Day Ambassador and I really hope you get involved this Sunday. Why not pick a few recipes out amongst your friends and get together to have a cake party? 

I love this quote below that I've seen around Pinterest...it seems very apt for World Baking Day. 

(image found on pinterest)

Let me know if you try any of the recipes and how they turn out. I hope you have a great weekend full of baking ahead. 

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Raspberry Smash Chocolate Pie

I made another pie! I love pie. I'm so pleased with this recipe although I'm never any good at pie edges so forgive the rustic look and focus on the awesome chocolatey filling instead. I've struggled to come up with recipes I felt were good enough the last couple of weeks but this just popped into my head the other day and I knew it would be good enough. A layer of raspberry jam topped with crushed fresh raspberries and a chocolate pudding filling? Yes please! Plus some softly whipped cream on top? Mmhmm.

 

I'm so fussy about whipping cream. I think it can be really easy to overdo and then it starts to look grainy and stiff. I like to get it to the point where it's like clouds in soft peaks. Is it possible to ramble on about whipped cream? Apparently so.

The sharpness of the raspberries goes perfectly with the rich dark chocolate and the cream on top just balances everything out. It would be a great pie to serve after a dinner party, or if you didn't feel like making pastry you could easily put the filling into ramekins to make a pudding.

 

Last weekend gave us the nicest weather and this weekend has just been grey and miserable but it's nice to be tucked up inside, feeling cosy and eating pie. I'm also looking at holidays at the same time. I'm dreaming of a pool and a beach and some sunshine. It's been so long since I went on a beachy holiday. I hope you all have somewhere nice planned for the next few months. We'll hopefully be going back to Wales again next time the sun decides to shine upon this little island.

 

Raspberry Smash Chocolate Pie

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

 

I used the pastry recipe from my mini pumpkin pies post.

 

For the pie filling:

2 heaped tablespoons of raspberry jam

150g fresh raspberries

30g cornflour

70g plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

720ml whole milk

110g dark chocolate, finely chopped

250ml double cream

1. Make your pastry according to the instructions here, but roll it out to cover one pie dish and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F and fill with foil and baking beans and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and bake for another 15 minutes. Let the pie shell cool completely.
2. Spread the jam over the cooled pie base. Sprinkle the raspberries over but save 4 for the top of the pie, and crush into the jam with the back of a tablespoon.
3. To make the chocolate pie filling, whisk together the corn flour, 170g sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Add the milk and whisk again. Bring the mix to the boil over a medium heat and as soon as it starts to thicken keep whisking for two minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and add in the broken dark chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Pour into the pie shell, smooth out any bubbles on top and place a sheet of greaseproof paper or cling film over the top to stop a skin forming.
6. Chill in the fridge for two hours. When you are ready to serve, add the remaining sugar to the double cream and beat until soft peaks form.
7. Spoon the cream into the middle of the pie, top with the remaining 4 raspberries and finely grate a little extra dark chocolate over the top.

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Quick and Easy Banoffee Pie

I left the blog for a week. I’m so sorry. Work has been crazy lately and I’ve also kind of been thinking I would rather bring you all one good post a week than 3 maybe not so good ones. Quality is better than quantity and all that.

 

I’m so pleased we are getting some sunshine at the moment. Last Saturday we threw a BBQ and for a brief moment it looked doomed. It poured with rain and then hail and then the sun came out and gave us the most glorious BBQ weather. Nick and our friend Ben created the most magnificent BBQ’d salmon filled with dill and lemon slices and we filled tortillas with flaky salmon, ripe avocado, tomatoes and sour cream. I miss that salmon.

 

Because no gathering is complete without a dessert I made this banoffee pie. I love banoffee, this is not the first time bananas and dulche de leche have combined to make something magical on this blog. This pie is super easy as well and tastes amazing! I was inspired by the awesome Donal Skehan and sprinkled a crushed crunchie bar over the top of pie. It’s a bit of genius really because you have the crunchy biscuit base, gooey caramel, sweet bananas, softly whipped cream and then crunchy…crunchie  on top. It’s really good drizzled with melted chocolate as well.

 

I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for your congratulations and happy birthdays last week as well, it was so nice to read every comment and made me feel very lucky.

 

Quick and Easy Banoffee Pie

(inspired by Donal Skehan)

 

1x 23-26 inch tart tin

 

300g oaty biscuits (like hobnobs)

70g unsalted butter, melted

1x tin of dulche de leche

2 large bananas

300ml double cream

1 crunchie bar

100g chocolate chips, melted (optional)

1. Whizz the biscuits in a food processor until they reach a fine crumb stage. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the melted butter until evenly distributed.
2. Press into your tart tin, make sure to press up the sides as well. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
3. Spoon out the dulche de leche into a bowl and mix until smooth to loosen it up.
4. Spread over the biscuit base. Slice the bananas and spread the slices over the top of the caramel.
5. Softly whip the double cream and spread over the top of the bananas.
6. Crumble the crunchie bar over the top and drizzle the melted chocolate (if using).
7. You could leave it to chill or just dive in with a spoon!

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