Austrailian food?!
Answers: i have to do a country project for history and i am doing austrailia and i need to make some austrailian food. I would like to make a dessert. Any ideas?
I spent a semester in Sydney and my favorite desert there (that you could make) is pavlova. It's a meringue-like cake usually served with fresh fruit (like berries, passion fruit and kiwis.)
Here is an authentic Australian recipe...
Passion Fruit and Strawberry Pavlova
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 large egg whites
1 ? cups/300 g sugar
1 tablespoon/8 ml fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups/345 ml heavy whipping cream
12 ounces/345 g fresh strawberries, halved
3 passion fruits, halved crosswise
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites in a large bowl for 1 minute, or until frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar and lemon juice. Continue beating for 5 minutes, or until firm peaks form.
Spoon the meringue onto the center of the parchment paper and spread to a 9-inch/23-cm-diameter circle. Place the meringue in the oven and immediately decrease the oven temperature to 200°F/95°C. Bake until the meringue is dry and crisp on the outside and just cooked through inside but still soft, about 1 hour.
Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool completely. Using a large metal spatula, transfer the meringue from the parchment paper to a platter. Beat the cream in a large bowl unto soft peaks form. Spoon the whipped cream atop the meringue. Top with the strawberries. Scoop the flesh out of the passion fruits and spoon it around the sides of the meringue and serve.
Lamingtons
Lamingtons are little Australian cakes that were invented as a way of using stale bread. Lamingtons appear at fetes and picnics all over Australia. They are coated in a chocolate syrup and plenty of desiccated coconut. They can be served simply on their own as a snack or have them as a dessert dish with a little good vanilla ice-cream.
Ingredients
Cake
3 eggs (large)
75g caster sugar
drop vanilla essence
150g self raising flour (sifted)
125g unsalted butter (soft)
Coating
200g icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
drop vanilla essence
3 tbsp hot water
100g desiccated coconut
Method
Cake: Preheat an oven to 180°C. Place the eggs in a bowl and beat them well. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy and full. Mix in the vanilla essence.
Gradually mix the flour into the egg mixture while mixing slowly. When the flour is well combined add the butter in pinches and beat it into the batter until well combined.
Grease a 20-25cm square or rectangular cake tin. Pour the mixture into the tin evenly. Place the tin into the preheated oven and leave the cake to cook for 20-25 minutes until pale golden and just firm (to test if it is cooked insert a thin skewer into the centre, it will come out clear if cooked.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool slightly, then turn it out onto cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool thoroughly before cutting and coating.
Coating: Place the icing sugar into a bowl with the cocoa powder. While mixing add the hot water a tablespoon at a time until it is a smooth liquid (runny but not too runny). Stir in the vanilla essence.
Cut the cake into 4-5 cm squares. Place the coconut on a plate or large bowl. Using a skewer dip each piece of cake into the icing sugar mixture so that it is well coated. Then roll the cake in the coconut so that all sides are covered. Place the lamingtons on baking or grease proof paper to dry. When the cakes are cooled store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Men at Work sing a song about the land down under,
and a vegamite sandwich, Vegamite is a sandwich spread and is probably not available in the US, but you can probably find it online somewhere.
Lamingtons and Pavlova are definitely Australian desserts and are extremely delicious. If you decide against that then a novel idea would be to cook a damper traditionally if possible.