Pavlova oh Pavlova!

My darling niece introduced me to this dessert last month. She wanted me to make her this dessert for her birthday in May. She said the name is 'Pavlova', and I'm like 'whaaatt????' For what I can remember 'Pavlova' is the name of some sport figure. Skating or something? She said her friend's boyfriend brought 'Pavlova' at her friend's surprise birthday party. So I started doing some 'googling' at home. And this is what I found :

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. Colloquially referred to as "pav", it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner.

The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but formal research indicates New Zealand as the more probable source.

~Sources from Wikipedia

How do I make dessert that I have not even taste it? During my research I only found Alexis Cafe, the only place that serve Pavlova in KL...I have only been to Alexis during my 'happenin' days (when I  used to work as a Flight Stewardess for Malaysia Airlines) but now, I don't think so too hip for me. And so, after so much of researching and choosing the right recipe, I started making Pavlova...Bismillah...

The utensils and bowl must be very dry and eggs white have to be separated carefully. The eggs have to be beaten till stiff and when you turn upside down it will not drip. OK so far so good....next the baking part..the recipe says bake for about 1 hour but after 45 minutes I think it's already browned. Ok I think I did it, yes!! After it's cooled completely, time to transfer it for decoration. I was holding it carefully in my hands then...crack!! Arggghhh!!!! Another 2 hours till delivery and I have to make another one! Feel like crying but I have to keep cool..and so I made another one, but I left it in the oven for 1 hour and waited till it's cool  enough to transfer it for decoration, extra careful this time! Decorate it with whipped cream, topped it off with strawberry and chocolate. Yummy!! And delivered it 1 hour later than scheduled. Sorry Era! Based on the feedback that I received the whole family loves it! Alhamdulillah..

Pavlova...what a name, what an experience making it!

The Birthday Girl...

Have a 'GaGa' Birthday!

At the very last minute, my sister decided to organized a 'surprise' birthday party for my niece. I decided to make birthday cake ala Lady Gaga (something funky but not too weird like her!). The flavor was Blueberry Cheese Cake and I used buttercream as the frosting instead of fondant because I knew my family doesn't really fancy fondant. The color was purple based on my niece's bedroom color. We had a nice time (especially my gediks nieces) playing with fondant deco. However, it was not considered a surprise party because my sis end up telling my niece about it 3 hours before the party!

The 'Gaga' Cake in black & white (Note the Chanel sunglasses, the pearls necklace, CD lipstick and the eyeshadow!)

Gediks Cousins :)

Girls having fun with the cake!