Fig Pavlova for the 32nd edition of the Sweet World / Pavlova de Figos para a 32ª edição do Sweet World.

After a wee Summer break, the Sweet World challenge is back for its 32nd edition and the theme for this edition is my most beloved Pavlova!

Pavlova, as you know, is something that I truly adore and if you look under the "Pavlova label", you'll find 14 Pavlova recipes for this dessert so, you're spoiled for choices...

First of all, the rules, as you might guess, remain the same, meaning:

1. You have until the 20th of October to make and publish your Pavlova. 
2. That same day, 20th of October, Susana will let you know on her blog, the theme for the 33th edition of the Sweet World. 
3. You'll have to leave your link in this post, in order to be featured in the monthly round up that will be published here on the blog, on the 25th of October.

Now! Let's learn a little about the Pavlova!

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. It is a meringue dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside, usually topped with fruit and whipped cream.

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.

The first known recorded recipe named "pavlova" was published in the fifth Australian edition of Davis Dainty Dishes in 1926.

However this "pavlova" recipe was not meringue based, but was instead a multi-coloured gelatine dish.

In 2008, Helen Leach published The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand's Culinary History, in which she argued that the earliest known recipe was published in New Zealand.

Later research by Andrew Wood and Annabelle Utrecht suggested the dessert originated in the United States and was based on the German Spanische Windtorte.

Keith Money, a biographer of Anna Pavlova, wrote that a hotel chef in Wellington, New Zealand, created the dish when Pavlova visited there in 1926 on her world tour.

Professor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand, has compiled a library of cookbooks containing 667 pavlova recipes from more than 300 sources. Her book, The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand's Culinary History, states that the first Australian pavlova recipe was created in 1935 while an earlier version was penned in 1929 in a rural magazine.

The Australian website "Australian Flavour" gives the earlier date of 1926 for its creation, suggesting that Home Cookery for New Zealand, by Australian writer Emily Futter, contained a recipe for "Meringue with Fruit Filling". This recipe was similar to today's version of the dessert.

It has been claimed that Bert Sachse created the dish at the Esplanade Hotel in Perth, Western Australia in 1935.

In defence of his claim as inventor of the dish, a relative of Sachse's wrote to Leach suggesting that Sachse may have accidentally dated the recipe incorrectly. Leach replied they would not find evidence for that "because it's just not showing up in the cookbooks until really the 1940s in Australia." However a recipe for "pavlova cake" was published in The Advocate in 1935, and a 1937 issue of The Australian Women's Weekly contains a "pavlova sweet cake" recipe. A 1935 advertisement for a chromium ring used to prevent the dessert collapsing also indicates that the term "pavlova cake" had some currency in Auckland at that time.

Of such arguments, Matthew Evans, a restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald, said that it was unlikely that a definitive answer about the pavlova's origins would ever be found. "People have been doing meringue with cream for a long time, I don't think Australia or New Zealand were the first to think of doing that.".

Whatever the origin, this dessert is a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both Australia and New Zealand, and with its simple recipe, is frequently served during celebratory and holiday meals. It is a dessert most identified with the Summer time and popularly eaten during that period including Christmas time. However, it is also eaten all year round in many Australian and New Zealand homes and it is also the theme for this Sweet World challenge.

Let's make a Pavlova?

for the meringue:

I've made a batch of this Lorraine Pascale meringue base, without the wreath hole in the middle.

for the topping:

150ml double cream

100ml Greek yoghurt

8 to 10 fresh figs, thinly sliced

1 tbsp clear honey

zest from 1 large orange

1 tbsp green pistachios, slivered

a handful of pomegranate seeds

to finish:

In a large bowl, whisk the cream to stiff peaks and fold through the yoghurt.

Put the meringue pavlova on a serving plate.

Top with the cream and yoghurt mixture.

Arrange the fig slices on top.

Scatter over the pistachio nuts and the pomegranate seeds and sprinkle with the orange zest.

Drizzle with the honey and serve.

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Após umas férias de Verão, o nosso Sweet World está de volta com mais um tema e desta vez, a minha tão amada PAVLOVA, foi a escolha para esta 32ª edição.

Como não é novidade, adoro Pavlova. Adoro fazê-las e comê-las e, se quiserem pesquisar aqui no blogue e sob a etiqueta "Pavlova", encontrarão 14 receitas para esta sobremesa dos Deuses.

Mas, antes de mais, as regras que, como imaginam, continuam as mesmas, ou seja:

1. Têm até ao dia 20 de Outubro para fazer e publicar a vossa Pavlova. 
2. Nesse mesmo dia, 20 de Outubro, será apresentado no blogue da Susana, o tema para a 33ª edição do nosso Sweet World. 
3. Têm mesmo de deixar o link da vossa publicação aqui neste post, a fim de poderem fazer parte do round up mensal que aqui será publicado no dia 25 de Outubro.

Vamos lá então conhecer melhor a maravilhosa Pavlova e tentar descobrir as suas origens...

Baptizada em homenagem à bailarina Russa Anna Pavlova, a sobremesa Pavlova é um

doce à base de suspiro, coberto com natas batidas e decorado com fruta fresca.

Ao contrário dos suspiros propriamente ditos, a base de suspiro da Pavlova, tem de ser crocante por fora e macio, com textura de marshmallow no interior.

Acredita-se que esta sobremesa foi criada em honra da bailarina Anna Pavlova, aquando da digressão que esta fez pela Austrália e Nova Zelândia, nos anos 20.

A nacionalidade do seu criador é, há muitos anos, motivo de discussão e discórdia entre a Austrália e a Nova Zelândia.

O registo da primeira sobremesa com o nome de Pavlova, foi publicado na Austrália, na 5ª edição da Davis Dainty Dishes em 1926 . No entanto, a base desta receita não era suspiro, e sim, uma gelatina multicolor.

A Professora Helen Leach da Universidade de Otago na Nova Zelânida, compilou uma colecção de livros de culinária, onde se encontravam receitas para cerca de 667 Pavlovas, originárias de mais de 300 fontes.

No seu livro "The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand's Culinary History", Helen afirma que a primeira receita Australina de Pavlova, foi criada em 1935, enquanto que, em 1929, havia já sido publicada uma receita de Pavlova, numa revista rural na Nova Zelândia.

Mais tarde e após investigação, Andrew Wood e Annabelle Utrecht sugeriram que esta sobremesa era de origem americana e havia sido inspirada na alemã Spanische Windtorte.

Keith Money, o biógrafo da Anna Pavlova, escreveu que o Chef de um hotel em Wellington, na Nova Zelândia, havia criado esta sobremesa em 1926, aquando da visita da bailarina a esta região do globo, durante a sua digressão mundial.

Muitas mais informações controversas encontrei, mas todas ela à volta do mesmo dilema e discussão:

É a Pavlova uma sobremesa originária da Austrália ou da Nova Zelândia?

Nunca saberemos, mas que é boa é e por isso, vos convido a fazer uma este mês!

Fazemos então uma Pavlova??

A receita que vos deixo é um misto de sabores que adoro, sendo a base da receita da Pavlova (suspiro), esta que aqui publiquei, da Lorraine Pascale, mas sem o buraco no meio.

para o topping:

150ml natas para bater

100ml iogurte grego natural

8 a 10 figos frescos, cortados em fatias

1 colher sopa de mel líquido

casca de 1 laranja zestada (não raspada)

1 colher sopa de pistachios laminados

um punhado de grãos ou sementes de romã

para terminar:

Numa taça, bater as natas em chantilly. Adicionar o iogurte e envolver muito bem.

Colocar a base de suspiro num prato de serviço.

Cobrir a superfície do suspiro com a mistura das natas e do iogurte.

Decorar com os figos frescos.

Polvilhar com os pistachios, os grãos de romã e a zeste da laranja.

Regar com o mel e servir.

Recipe / Receita: Lorraine Pascale and Lia - Lemon and Vanilla.