Pavlova =)

My husband and I watched Australian Master Chef last night and one of their challenges was to make a Pavlova. Out of curiosity and inspiration I made my first Pavlova for dessert today. I over cooked it somehow but it was very tasty. My husband and I ended up eating the whole thing! =)

"Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova. (Russian: А́нна Па́влова).^[1] Colloquially referred to as "pav", it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner." (Wiki)

It was very easy to prepare, cheap ingredients and very pretty! Cooking time is a bit long because you have to bake the meringue at 300 C for an hour or until you have that nice crust on the outside yet maintaining that beautiful fluffy meringue inside. It takes some skill but if you can read and follow a recipe you can pretty much get through it and enjoy a beautiful and tasty Pavlova too.

I followed this recipe and it's fairly easy for first timers:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-pavlova/detail.aspx

This recipe reminds me of something similar we have in the Philippines, brazo de mercedes. By the name it doesn't seem very Filipino but I really never know where it came from. All I know is that I loved that cake/dessert when I was a little girl. It has two components: meringue and custard. I have never attempted to make brazo de mercedes myself but if anything not having it around here gives me the urge to make it myself as well as other Filipino dishes and desserts I grew up eating and now just imagining about.

Anyway, I do like the challenge of creating and trying things and this Pavlova I made was surely worth the try. Cooking different kids of food is a lot of fun and very educational which reminds me of my dad. He used to take us out to different restaurants ( Chinese, Japanese, American, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian, French, etc.) because he believed that that is one fun way of learning cultures and countries. I loved that when I was younger up until this time and I would love to do the same for my kids someday =)

Explore. Create. Enjoy!

Have a great day!!!