19 December 2013

Y is for YOLKS

Crack open an egg and there's a small miracle inside. A golden orb of deliciousness that's essential in the kitchen for making mayonnaise, custard, crème brulee and many more lovely things. The hardest thing in the world is to understand just why some on might feel the need to order an omelette made with egg whites only?

See the pic above? Eight eggs? No, just four. Last year I purchased some eggs and the recipe I was making at the time called for four eggs. I was delighted to see that each of those eggs had a double yolk. I didn't take a lotto ticket but I should have.

At this time of the year I imagine there's a bit of pavlova and meringue making going on in New Zealand kitchens. So it is probably helpful to post my 'pavlova' sponge recipe here. It is called that as it uses the four egg yolks left over from the pav/meringues - although in my case if I find four double yolkers again it will use 8 small yolks!

PAVLOVA SPONGE (YOLKS ONLY)

•4 egg yolks •120g caster sugar •75g flour •half a tsp baking powder •Pinch of salt •1 tsp pure vanilla essence •50g butter, melted •4 tbsp boiling water •1 lemon, grated rind only

Preheat the oven to 170�C. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until very thick and light. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and fold this into the egg and sugar mixture with the vanilla essence. Melt the butter and fold this through with the boiling water and grated lemon rind. Spoon the mixture into paper baking cups. Bake for 15 minutes until risen and golden. Cool and decorate with cream or icing as follows. Makes 7-8 large cupcakes or 16 small cupcakes. Can also be made in a 20cm cake tin. Store for up to three days in an airtight tin.