Wonderful fruit for home gardening – raspberries recipe – How to make Aussie favourite Pavlova

"What could be nicer than freshly picked fruit from the garden!"

Raspberries grow on canes and are well suited to our moderate climate. Every year new canes grow and these are the ones on which the next years fruit grows. As the seasons fruit is finished it is necessary to cut back the canes to allow for the new growth.

The plants have a suckering tendency, so they can be grown in hedges or smaller clumps. They need a sunny site but can tolerate some shade. Ours are grown in a clump, in a patch of their own. Because they spread we need to keep them back from overtaking the rest of the area. They need very little care as our soil is a rich volcanic red.

The raspberries give us an abundance of fruit each year. We have both red and a darker purple variety each with their own unique flavour. The darker ones are sweeter than the red ones. My favourite are the red ones that just melt in the mouth! Taste is the best way to decide when to pick them. Raspberries are easily bruised, and will only keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days if they can survive being eaten for that long. I find it better to freeze them if kept longer than a day. They freeze well and are wonderful in the winter months in pies and warm desserts.

Because we have an abundance of the berries, l like to make jams and sauce too.

While they are fresh we enjoy them on cakes, flans and pavlovas.

Pavlova is an Australian favourite dessert, due to the way of production is relatively simple, the Pavlova cake can be found on the table of Australians no matter in the daily diet, festivals, birthdays, anniversaries and other days. Named after Anna Pavlova, the famous Russian ballerina. It is a meringue cake with a marshmallow texture inside and firm on the outside.it is claimed to be the invention of a chef named Bert Sasche, in Perth in the 1930’s. However this claim is disputed by the New Zealanders who also believe it was first made in their country at about the same time.

If your boyfriend/girlfriend, families or friends are about to celebrate their birthday, in addition to a carefully prepared birthday present for them, you can try to make a Pavlova birthday cake for him or her, which adds more surprise atmosphere and sincerity to the birthday party. Even if you are not good at baking, don't worry, because this birthday cake is made very easy!

Recipe for Pavlova:

4 egg whites

1cup of caster sugar

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 teaspoon of white vanilla

Method:

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and gradually add sugar, beating well until all sugar is dissolved between additions.

Gently fold in cornflour and vinegar and vanilla.

Spread in a round on to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Don’t flatten the mixture but heap it in the middle.

Bake in a very slow oven at 120 degrees for 1 and a quarter hour. Turn off the oven and leave ajar. Leave the pavlova in the oven until cold.

When cold decorate with whipped cream and berries or fruit of choice.

Delicious berry sauce is a wonderful accompaniment to desserts, ice cream, yoghurt and cakes.

Recipe

200 grams raspberries, strawberries or a mixture of different varieties such as blackberries, blueberries and red currants.

100 grams sugar.

Juice of half a lemon

Method

Cook the berries and lemon juice until soft (about 10 minutes)

Add all ingredients, and stir, continuing to cook, crushing the fruit to a pouring consistency.

Enjoy on your favourite dessert, ice cream, pancakes or cakes!