An All Day Brunch

We had a lovely Australia Day brunch - the guests arrived about 9am and the last lot left just before 5 in the afternoon! It all worked out well, with my usual need to overcater we had enough for lunch and still had leftovers to eat for dinner as well. The weather co-operated beautifully, although it did get a bit windy by mid-afternoon, the kids all behaved and mostly played well together and Australia won the cricket. What more could you ask for?

The brunch menu:
Home-made muesli, or Weetbix for the less adventurous
Bacon and Sausages on the bbq (I forgot to put the tomatoes out!)
Scrambled Eggs
Toast
Banana Pancakes with ricotta and honey
Berry Yoghurt Muffins
Fruit Plate - Watermelon, Rockmelon and Grapes
Maria's Pavlova

We ate Maria's pav around lunch-time and it went down an absolute treat. I made her take photos of it and convinced her to write down her version of the 'classic pav' recipe to share.

Maria's Pavolva Roll

4 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
sprinkle of icing sugar
1 x 300ml thickened cream, whipped
1 small punnet of strawberries, thinly sliced
passionfruit pulp
mint leaves for decoration

Preheat oven to 190˚C. Grease a 25cm x 30cm swiss roll pan, line base with baking paper extending the paper by 5cm above the two long sides. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form, gradually add the caster sugar beating well after each addition until the sugar has dissolved (approx 10 minutes). Stir in the cornflour and vanilla. Spoon the mixture into the pan using a knife to spread into the corners. Cook in a moderately hot oven (190˚C) for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn the meringue out onto another sheet of baking paper which has been sprinkled with icing sugar. Gently peel away the baking paper lining and discard. Stand meringue for 2 minutes. Trim the ends if necessary then spread the cream all over and cover with most of the strawberries, keeping a few for decoration. Using the paper as a guide roll up firmly from the long side of the pan and place onto your serving plate. Remove paper. Decorate with strawberries, passionfruit pulp and mint leaves. Cover and Refrigerate. Can be made the day before.