I have not made Pavlovas for the longest time so when Sasha told me that she was thinking of Pavlova with Maple Cream for our maple themed blog I was excited. For those of you who are not familiar, Pavlova is a meringue named after Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. It was created in her honour in New Zealand (some say Australia) during one of her tours there.

Meringue can be tricky to make but the reward is worth the effort. Start with room temperature eggs, a clean dry bowl and whisk and follow the instructions below.

I love the tail end of winter (hope I didn’t speak too soon!?), the sun is out more often, the snow is in full retreat, the days are longer and each seems to get a little warmer. It also means one of my absolute favourite ingredients is in full swing, Maple Syrup!

At this time of the year in my part of Canada we start thinking Maple Syrup. The sap is running and just waiting to be harvested. It takes about 40L of sap to make 1L of syrup. Canada produces approximately 80% of the world’s maple syrup as production is limited to North-eastern North America where the Maple trees grow. The worlds largest Maple Syrup Festival is held in Elmira Ontario (Saturday April 4th). The town is closed off to cars so you have to park on the road leading into town and hike in, or you can ride in on a steam train (or at least you could when I was a kid).

Growing up in Ontario, I can remember class and family trips to Black Creek Pioneer Village. The smells in the sugar shack were a combination of the maple syrup boiling down and the smoke from the fire. Outside the shack there was a huge cast iron kettle suspended over an open fire with steam rising from the maple syrup in its final stages bubbling away, perfect for making maple taffy on packed melting snow. I always made sure to bring enough money to buy a piece of maple candy for the scenic walk through the maple bush back to the car.