Faux Pavlova

Aussie-In-California's Note:

Here is the story :) As an Aussie living "Up Over" (in the US) I asked help my 11 year old niece make Pavlova for her report on Australian Christmas Traditions & food. The report was handed in & then I got the urgent call from my Brother. As part of her report she was to make a "Pav" & serve it to her class. She had handed in her report with a traditional Pavlova recipe. It serves 6-8 people. Her class is comprised of 32 kids required to taste some Aussie "Chrissy" traditional tucker (food). If you have ever made a Pav, you know it takes a LOT of work. For an inexperienced 11 year old making the meringue base/crust, it's tough stuff & I was not up to the challenge helping her make five of them. Then possums (as Dame Edna would say), a stroke of brilliance struck me & we decided to try and fake it! To my surprise it worked! YEAH MATE! Tastes really close to the real deal. I've uploaded some pics to show the Mini Faux Pav we made to test the recipe out, & then the final result as made by my niece.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 30 -35 vanilla meringues, 2-inchx3-inch in size (2 tubs Trader Joe's)
• 2 (7 ounce) jars kraft marshmallow creme
• 2 pints heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 quarts fresh strawberries, and or 2 quarts raspberries
• 1 quart fresh blueberries or 1 quart blackberry
• 3 kiwi fruits
• 2 bananas
• 1 (15 ounce) can sliced peaches
• passion fruit pulp or mango puree

Directions:

1. Line bottom and sides of a 9" x 13" of a glass pyrex baking dish with crushed meringues (a trifle bowl would also work well). Spread the remaining meringues evenly over whole meringue base.
2. Microwave each jar of Kraft Marshmallow Creme for 20 seconds each and then spread carefully over meringue with silicone scraper in an even layer. Let sit for at least 2 hours the meringues and marshmallow to meld. Trust me this is the only tricky bit to the whole recipe.
3. Clean and slice up all the fruit except for the passion fruit and/or mango puree and set aside. Keeping each fruit separated from the other.
4. In a large bowl or electric mixer whip cream till stiff peaks form and then gently fold in vanilla and powdered sugar. Spread whipped cream evenly over marshmallow creme layer. (If you are good with a piping bag then you can save some of the whipped cream to decorate the outside edge or used canned "spray" cream.).
5. Passion fruit pulp: I used canned (170 gm John West), or you can puree some fresh mango. Drizzle to cover over whipped cream layer and then decorate with fruit. It will keep n the fridge for about 2 more hours but is best served immediately after decorating.