Welcome back everyone!
I'm now on Christmas holiday, and currently sitting in the kitchen waiting for my pavlova to finish baking.
I am not good at baking. I don't think I've ever been truly successful at it. But I'm trying. I followed the standard recipe on the BBC website: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/strawberry-pavlova
The first time I tried making it (3 days ago) it turned brown in the first 10 minutes of being in the oven, and basically had to be thrown out.
I tried again yesterday, and was about to start putting the toppings on when I realised I couldn't actually remove the pavlova off the tin foil.
So I'm baking it again in the oven.
I guess what one has to realise with baking is that it's not going to come out right the first time. At least with me. And I find it incredibly disappointing and exasperating, because I spent so much time, effort and love on it, not to mention the ingredients being wasted. However, I guess, like with most things, practice makes perfect (well, not quite perfect).
Right, so the recipe says bake it for 1 hour. Yesterday, I baked it for 1.5 hours. I've just baked it for another hour and it's still raw inside.
I find it extremely draining too, because I put all my hopes into it- I want it to look good, taste good, and please others. When it doesn't happen, I feel so let down.
Anyway, I'm going to keep baking it till the inside no longer looks like runny raw egg :))
However, I do have a couple of tips to throw at you.
Everyone's oven is different, so temperature and timing vary greatly for everyone.
For me, I had to keep the oven at a very low temperature, and bake it for a very very long time. I mean, my friend's mum bakes it for 4 hours, so.
Vanilla bean paste is really all that. I bought it after seeing it used on TV and it's so luxurious- smells and tastes great. It's got specks of vanilla pods in there too. I want to buy that really thick syrupy one next. And actual vanilla bean pods.
Make sure to not overwhip your cream- I've done it sooooo many times before and it's horrifying when it happens- it's really nasty- like butter. This time I think it's good tho- just whip it low and slow and keep your eye on it at all times. keep stopping and checking the consistency too. Update....I overwhipped it- it's like butter. Oops.
Update (30.12.20) If you have a baking disaster and it looks bad- cream and fruit people, cream and fruit, that's all I have to say.
Well ladies and gentlemen, here are some photos of the final thing.
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