Pavlova Cupcakes

Thirty-four. That's not my age. It's the Celsius, outside. And I'm sweating like a *tuut* while typing this. argh..I hate sweaty armpits.

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Along with backache and a headache. To make matter worse, I was late for Adam's so called school. He was crying as I rushed here and there, prepping him for school. He didn't want to go to school, I figured he woke up on the wrong side of the bed too. Finally, we got out of the house and while walking toward the school, I realized I forgot to change my pant. Too late. I was wearing a colorful heart patterns pant. Great.

Anyway, I got home and had my breakfast with Ellen (yes, the one on TV), took a couple of aspirins, had my shower, and then I  thought of making a Pavlova. Why not? I need to straighten my day back. Cewah. Since  Husband is miles away, that explains the hectic morning, I decided to make a cupcake version of Pavlova. The recipe is based on Nigella's. Sorry, no recipe card today.

It started in Mad Jack Cafe. We had a lunch there, and we ordered Pavlova as a dessert. It was our first Pavlova. I always intimidated to try this overly sweet dessert for the obvious reason. I didn't know what made me order one that day. But it proved me wrong. I took a bite and I was sold. It wasn't that sweet, the cream and fruits toned it down to my 'acceptance' level. I absolutely love it. That was my first,and only Pavlova and since then, I was craving for it. I decided to bake it myself, but being a bit of procrastinator myself, I keep on delaying it until today. Husband  always tell me that "later means never".

Back to my pavlova. As you know, Pavlova is supposed to be white, unless you put something inside. I didn't put anything in mine, but as you can see, my pavlovas are brown. I know who the culprit was-ME. 

You see, I've got to pick Adam at 12, so I figured I bake the pavlova at 10, and by 11, it should have been ready. Wrong. Came 11, the meringue was still soft, and I thought it would be okay to increase the temperature. Wrong again. It did make the outer part dry, but at the same time, it turned brown. This is what I read on the net, when your oven is too hot, the sugar inside the meringue will caramelized and that makes it brown. That's what happened to me. 

Other than that, everything is fine. The inside is still squishy mushy. Once cooled, I immediately take one cup and ngap! Heaven! It made my day, even though it's brown in color :P BTW, did you notice my cute teacup mould? he he 

Happy weekend, everyone!