Pavlova with seasonal fruits for summer

Pavlova is a great dessert in summer as it serves with fruits AND I just bought some cream this morning!

Basically pavlova consists of meringue, cream and fruits.

Here are the tips about making meringue, click here & read it before you make it.

Ingredients
2 egg white (for 2 -4person)
Few drops of lemon juice
100g icing sugar
1tsp corn starch
1/2tsp vanilla extract
Optional: tartar powder

Whipping cream - at least 30% cream
Icing sugar

Fruits - any fruits you have at home, I used raspberry and mango
Honey (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven at 150°c

2. Whisk egg white with lemon juice until it forms soft peaks
Add in icing sugar, little by little, until it becomes shiny
NOTE: From my experience, it is VERY important that you taste the egg white, to see if you want to add more icing sugar!! the amount of sugar is just a guideline, you may want to add less or more sugar, adjust the amount according to your preference. It tastes like marshmallow... yum...

4. Add in corn starch and vanilla extract

5. Line the baking sheet on the baking tray
Pour the mixture to the tray, you may want to use a piping bag, but I didn't because I want it to be in natural shape
What I did - I made 2 nest-shape on the tray, one for me and one for my husband lol
Note: my suggestion is that you can make the middle a bit hollow like a nest because it is always difficult to completely cook the middle part, but don't worry if the egg white is not completely cook, it is normal

6. When you place the white egg in the oven, reduce the heat to 120°c and bake for 50mins or until it is a bit golden color

7. Turn off the oven and let the meringue cool down in the oven

8. Whip the cream until it becomes firm, you can add some icing sugar
Here you need to taste the cream to see how sweet you want, remind yourself that the egg white will be very sweet too...
Note: My suggestion - I added green tea powder & little icing sugar to balance the sweetness of the egg white

9. Pour the whipped cream on the top of the meringue
Place the fruits on the top of the cream
I poured some honey on the top too, it's very delicious

Enjoy!

Mont Blanc of Angelina - What's inside?

I got few egg white because I made my crème patissière last week, so how to use up these egg white?

I came up with an idea - meringe -----> Tata! Mont blanc!

If you love dessert, you probably know Mont Blanc is the signature dessert of Angelina (in France).

I have made it once 2 years ago (see the above photo) and I searched on several websites to know how to make Mont blanc, finally I found one which explains how. So today I want to share with you!

All you need are:

1. Meringue (bottom)

2. Whipped cream (middle)

3. Chestnut cream (top)

Before you make meringue, click here to get the tips to make successful meringue

1. Meringue

How to make meringue?
1 part of egg white and 2 parts of icing sugar.
Example: 1/2 cup egg white needs 1 cup icing sugar

Important thing to know is that you need to use old egg white, which means it sat in the fridge for few days (less than 1 week). When you take the egg white out from the fridge, let it warm a bit to room temperature -> about 30mins. Then it is ready to use.

Ingredients to make meringue:

Egg white

Few drops of lemon juice

Icing sugar

Vanilla extract

Optional: 
1. cream of tartar (1/2 tsp tartar for 1 cup of egg white) 
2. white colorant

Instructions:

1. Beat egg white with lemon juice first until it becomes soft peak

2. Add icing sugar & vanilla extract, little by little, start from slow speed to medium speed

Note: the more icing sugar you add, the firmer the texture

If you have tartar and white colorant, you can add at this time

3. Beat the egg white mixture at high speed until it forms firm peak

4. With the help of the spetula, put the egg white mixture to a piping bag, with any tip you like, squeeze them on the tray (lined with baking sheet)

5. Bake at 120°C or 90°C

The lower the temperature, the longer the time it needs

=> For 2-finger width size, start baking for 30mins, then you add 5mins each time

=> For 3-finger width size, start baking for 40mins, then you add 5mins each time

6. When it's well cooked, which means it become hard, you can take it out

Be careful the meringue becomes brown color! 

7. Let it cool down and put it aside

2. Whipped cream

You need 30% or more, I used 35% so that it stands firmer :)

You won't need to add sugar because meringue contains lot of sugar...

3. Chestnut cream

You can either buy: 

a/ ready made chestnut cream OR 

b/ concentrated chestnut mixed with whipping cream

If you choose option b, please add whipping cream little by little, until the mixture become soft enough to scoop, not liquid!! If it is difficult to scoop = need more whipping cream

To test: When you use a spoon to scoop the mixture, the mixture on the tip of the spoon will form a triangle

Put the mixture to a piping bag with any tip you like

Combine these 3 ingredients:

1. Place the meringue at the bottom

2. Pipe the whipped cream on the top of the meringue

3. Pipe the chestnut cream on the top

Enjoy!