Pavlova

Evan returned from his mission to Australia with a variety of great recipes from around the world. One of the few truly "Australian" dishes he learned to make in Sydney was Pavlova. This is a favorite dessert for Australians...kind of like apple pie in the United States, I guess. It takes a little time to make but its worth the effort...and tons better than apple pie!

Ingredients
wheatened corn flour for dusting...not sure if this is hasa marina (corn flour) or corn starch. we used hasa marina the first time we tried it.
6 egg whites
1 1/2 cups caster sugar (blend sugar in a blender or food processor until very fine)
2 cups thickened cream (heavy whipping cream)
2 tsp vanilla
fresh fruit (strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, mango, etc)

Preheat oven to 120 C
Line 2 round cake pans with parchment paper, cut to fit. Grease and dust with cornflour
Combine 2 egg whites and 1/2 cup sugar. Beat on high with an electric mixer until thick and glossy and firm peaks form.
Stir in 1 tsp of cornflour.
Divide mixture evenly between 2 pans spreading to full circles. Bake for 1 hour until firm and dry. Remove from oven and immediately peel off baking paper. Place on cooling rack to cool.
Repeat process 2 more times. Now you will have 6 baked "merengues"
Beat cream and vanilla until soft.
Layer cream, fruit and pavlova rounds to form a tower.
Decorate as desired.
Serve immediately.
Do not keep. You won't have to worry about having any leftovers, though!

Fruit Pizza

Sugar Cookie Dough
8 oz vanilla yogurt
Variety of fresh, canned or frozen fruits cut into bite sized pieces

Roll sugar cookie dough into large circle about 1/4 inch thick on large cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until edges are just started to turn golden. Cool completely. Spread yogurt over cookie. Cover with pieces of fruit. Slice with a pizza cutter and serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
As an alternative, you can make indivdual fruit pizzas and let everyone select their own "toppings". You may also want to sprinkle the top with chopped nuts.
This does not keep well to the next day as the yogurt will make the cookie crust soggy.

Seminary Frosting

When I was in high school, my mom taught our early-morning seminary class. Each time one of the students had a birthday, she baked a cake and topped it with this frosting and M&M's. Of all the birthday cakes she served at 6am, only one student ever complained about cake that early in the morning. Everyone else loved it!

3 Tbsp white flour
1 cup sweet milk (fat free is fine)
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla

Dissolve the flour in the milk and cook on medium heat stirring constantly. Cool with the lid on. Beat the sugar, butter and vanilla with mixer for 15 minutes or longer. Fold in the flour mixture carefully. Spread on cooled cake. Top with coconut or any kind of sprinkles.
Frosts one cake

Grandma Haynie's Caramels

The first time I tasted my Grandma's caramels was my freshman year at BYU. I was instantly hooked and couldn't believe I'd never had them growing up. My grandma was "famous" for her caramels making them every year at Christmas time and giving them away as gifts. When I got older, I asked for the recipe and I love it! Be patient while stirring the caramel...it takes a while. Let the whole family take turns stirring if you want.

4 cups white sugar
2 cups white Karo syrup
1 1/2 cups half and half (low-fat is okay)
1 cup whipping cream (light cream is okay)
1 cube butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk (fat free is okay)
dash of salt

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir well and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn down to medium as soon as the candy boils. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until right consistency. Test in a cup of ice water or use a thermometer which reads soft ball (about 230 degrees). The color changes when it is ready. It may take 50 minutes to reach this stage. Don't overcook it or it will be stiff rather than soft and chewy. Pour into greased jelly roll pan. Cool. Cut into pieces when it is set up. Pieces can be wrapped in wax paper and stored in an airtight container.
One year we made Casher Turtles using this recipe. Simply lay a spoonful of Cashews onto greased cookie sheet or greased wax paper. Pour a little caramel over top of cashews. When cool and a spoonful of melted chocolate on top.

Magnolia's Famous Banana Pudding

Magnolia's is a popular bakery we discovered and love in Manhattan. Recommended to us by friends, we didn't see anything eyecatching on our first visit. We began to leave when Dad asked why Magnolia's was so famous. At the time I only knew that my New Yorker friend's "insider secret" was to try their banana pudding but I quickly added that "I'm not really a banana pudding person." Little did I know! Well, we went back in to try the banana pudding and we tasted heaven! We've been hooked ever since.

1 (14 oz can) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups ice cold water
1 (3.4 oz box) instant vanilla pudding (Jell-O brand)
3 cups heavy cream
1 (12 oz box) Nabisco Nilla Wafers (no substitutes)
4 cups sliced ripe bananas

In a small bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more. Cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight before continuing. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.
In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the cream until well blended and no streaks remain.
To assemble the dessert, select a 9x13 pan or a large, wide bowl with a 4-5 quart capacity. Place 1/3 of the Nilla Wafers over the bottom of the pan/bowl, overlapping if necessary. Cover with 1/3 of the bananas and then 1/3 of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more garnishing with Nilla wafer crumbs on the top layer of the pudding. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours or up to 8 hours (but no longer!) before serving.

Notes from Mom: Being fat conscious, I substitute fat free sweetened condensed milk and light whipping cream for part of the heavy cream. To me, it tasted just like the pudding from Magnolia's without all the calories and fat. The first 2 times I made the pudding, I used the Nilla Wafers and it was great. The longer it chills in the refrigerator the better. After 8 hours, some of the Nilla Wafers were still crunchy, but the next day, it was perfect! I'm pretty sure the Magnolia's in NYC uses day-old leftover vanilla cupcakes not Nilla Wafers. So, for my third batch of pudding, I made up a batch of Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes first and substituted the dried cake pieces for the Nilla Wafers.