Meringue / Pavlova

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    • Meringue / Pavlova

      Hi has anyone come up with a recipe for a good meringue, I've tried to make it a couple of times using my normal recipe and substituting the sugar with splenda granulated but it doesn't work out. It looks great before putting it in the oven, but it doesn't cook with the desired taste or effect, no crunchy meringue!
      Hope someone can help, thanks Jo

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      JoM wrote:

      Hi has anyone come up with a recipe for a good meringue, I've tried to make it a couple of times using my normal recipe and substituting the sugar with splenda granulated but it doesn't work out. It looks great before putting it in the oven, but it doesn't cook with the desired taste or effect, no crunchy meringue!
      Hope someone can help, thanks Jo


      have you tried adding a pinch of cream of tartar, or a pinch of lemon juice, and if that dont work try a different sweetener maybe, hope this helps

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      Hi Sinders, I will give this a try. I,ve never heard of lemon juice in meringue before, what is it meant to do? Plus I take it you would add this right at the end of mixing?
      Jo
      AAH just had a thought, the lemon juice would be instead of the vinegar, being an acid I would think!

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      JoM wrote:

      Hi Sinders, I will give this a try. I,ve never heard of lemon juice in meringue before, what is it meant to do? Plus I take it you would add this right at the end of mixing?
      Jo
      AAH just had a thought, the lemon juice would be instead of the vinegar, being an acid I would think!


      that would be correct, i add cream of tartar to mine. although i have never tried with sweetener but will do and let you know, so if you try first you let me know,

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      Verdict 5/10
      Worked a little bit better with cream of tartar but still not perfect. Think I will try with a different type of sweetner when I get some and see if there is any difference. Just found a packet of chocolate fudge brownie mix in the pantry which I forgot I had, will make these instead as I know they do work and are yum, also heaps lower in carbs than the meringue even when it is made with splenda.
      Jo

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      I haven't made a crisp low carb pav yet, I tried splenda and it tasted like pav but was not white and crispy. I tried xylitol last summer and it melted and pooled down the bottom.
      Low Carb in a Nutshell ~ Carb Counts ~ Research ~ Measurements/Conversions ~ Glossary


      Let me know if you think of anything else handy from the site to put here.

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      Good News! The pavolas improved next day. The night that I made them they were crisp meringue but the marshmallow inside was quite rubbery but the next day the marshmellow was a softer texture. overall not bad pretty close to the real thing.
      Sherrie, did you use cream of tartar when you made yours? I found that when I used it in this batch my meringue did form a crisp shell whereas previous attempts without it didn't produce the shell, only a rubbery marshmellow.

      The quantities I used were:
      3 large egg whites
      pinch salt
      1 cup of granulated splenda
      1/2 flat teaspoon cream of tartar
      1 teaspoon lemon juice

      Normally I would use double the quantities for pav, but I had the 3 whites in the fridge. I also made this into individual pav's rather than 1 large one, which I think probably works better. Next time I will try it with only 2/3 cup splenda as I found them quite sweet.

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      I have been experimenting with pavlova - its my mission in life to get a pavlova I can whip up whenever I need to bring a sweet plate and know I can dig in as much as anyone else.

      I have tried using other sweeteners but have always gotten an aftertaste (which my teenage critics wont abide :eek:) and I think stevia on its own wouldn't work as the egg whites need the "sugar" to react to make the glossy peaks. I also think without white sugar the meringue is quite soft so individual ones seem to dry out better to give more of a crunchy crust.

      With Xmas next week I am down to the wire but I think I may have got it, at least for my clan's tastes anyway.

      4 egg whites
      1/3 cup erythritol (expensive I know!)
      1/8 teaspoon stevia
      1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
      1 teaspoon vanilla
      1 teaspoon vinegar (I'm gonna try lemon juice next time)
      1/4 teaspoon cornflour

      Method as "normal" pavlova,

      Help me nail this girls, by the next family celebration I want the best pavlova ever!!:D

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      Sorry JoM, I missed your post, its been a while now but I probably did use the tartar as that is what I usually do.

      Kapay, how is the crispiness?
      Low Carb in a Nutshell ~ Carb Counts ~ Research ~ Measurements/Conversions ~ Glossary


      Let me know if you think of anything else handy from the site to put here.

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      Sherrie, the outer shell is crisp but not particularly thick. I have had bought ones in that are pretty crumbly rather than crisp but the outer shell is about 3mm thick. Mine is more like a homemade one in that the shell is smooth and glossy and crisp but only about 1.5mm thick.

      I'm gonna try another batch today as the farmers market had strawberry punnets 3 for $5 yesterday and I cant think of a better way of eating strawberries.

      Except, of course, your way Donkeybrook - skip the pav althogether :D (btw closer than you think - College Grove!!)

      Shall let you know of my results but I've gotta make the Xmas Pavlova on thursday so not much time to muck around. Serious stuff ;)

    • Re: Meringue / Pavlova

      Yep! I nailed it :D My mini pavlovas on Xmas Day were the bomb!

      Recipe as follows
      (using my food processor that has a egg white whisk)

      4 large egg whites or 5 small
      1/2 tsp Cream Of Tartar
      1/3 cup Natvia (erythriltol/stevia from Coles)
      1/8 tsp Stevia
      1 tsp Vinegar
      2 tsp Cornflour
      1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
      pinch of salt

      Beats egg whites with C of T til stiff. Add sweeteners slowly til glossy, approx 8 minutes. Add salt,cornflour,vanilla and vinegar untill just combined. Spoon onto greased baking paper into 6 mounds, flatten slightly. Bake at 120 C for 2 hours then cool in oven to dry out.

      Serve with whipped cream and strawberry "syrup" (frozen strawberries thawed with a little sweetener then mashed).

      I made them on the Thursday as no time on Friday. Lovely crisp shell outside, soft meringue inside (not marshmallow), good sweet flavor no bitterness from the stevia.

      I was very pleased, got plenty of compliments and only one person apart from me knew they were low carb.

      Yay ;)