Why not a pavlova? After all, it is one of Australia’s favourite desserts! Never mind the long-standing debate about whether Australia or New Zealand invented the recipe. What’s important is we know that this fabulous cake was named in honour of the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who visited both countries in 1926 on her world tour.

For the uninitiated, a pavlova is a meringue cake with a delicate, crisp crust and a soft, marshmallow-like center. This would be fantastic for an intimate, informal wedding where you’re not too keen on having your cake all perfectly done up. A pavlova has that charming homemade look about it, with all the peaks and cracks of the meringue showing, the whipped cream all fluffed up, and the fruit piled on top of the cream.

Here are two recipes for a classic pavlova and a chocolate-flavored one. And you can have two options: one large cake or many cute little pavlovas for each of the guests.

Stephanie Alexander’s Pavlova

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

pinch of salt

250g castor sugar

2 teaspoons corn flour

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

few drops of vanilla extract

300ml cream

Fruit to preference (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, passion fruit, or pomegranate)

Method:

Preheat over to 180°C. Beat egg whites and salt until soft, satiny peaks form. Beat in sugar, a third at a time, until stiff and shiny. Sprinkle in corn flour, vinegar, and vanilla extract, and fold lightly.

Spread onto baking paper within 20cm radius circle and smooth tops and sides. Place in over and reduce temperature to 150°C. Bake for 1 – 1.15 hours (depending on your oven). Turn oven off and leave to cool completely. Turn upside down and top with whipped cream and fruit.

Recipe via LifeStyled

Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

Ingredients:

For the chocolate meringue base:

6 egg whites

300g caster sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved

1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar

50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the topping:

500ml double cream

500g raspberries

2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated dark chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

2. Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar, and the chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Mound on to a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 23cm in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 150°C/gas mark 2 and cook for about one to one and a quarter hours. When it’s ready it should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top, but when you prod the centre you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disc cool completely.

3. When you’re ready to serve, invert on to a big, flat-bottomed plate. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the raspberries. Coarsely grate the chocolate so that you get curls rather than rubble, as you don’t want the raspberries’ luscious colour and form to be obscured, and sprinkle haphazardly over the top, letting some fall, as it will, on the plate’s rim.

Recipe via Nigella.com

{First image via Papa Bun; second image via LifeStyled; third image via What Katie Ate}

Patricia, the lovely lady behind these wonderful (and tasty, we bet) creations, says that every new yummy cake she bakes is a new adventure, and that her personal commitment is to exceed expectations every single time. That’s a really nice way of baking wedding cakes and cupcakes, don’t you think?

One of the couples she serviced had this to say about the whole Yummy experience: “Elegant beauty. Divine taste…Guests loved it! Divine…that’s all they can say.”

Choose from flavors such as Butterscotch Mud, Hazelnut, Lemon Licious, Carrot, and Red Velvet.

Yummy Cakes and Cupcakes is located in Kingsgrove, Sydney, Australia.

{All images via Yummy Cakes and Cupcakes}

Marcella Robin is the owner and pastry chef at M. Robin Cakes and currently focuses on entremet wedding cakes {typically a multi-layered mousse-based cake}. These specialty cakes include layers of delicious mousse, bavaroise, dacquoise, sponge cake, caramels, fruit and other fillings.

Marcella combines this love of entremet cake making with her love for art, which results in stunning cakes that push the envelope. The cakes are creative, bold, modern, sophisticated and oh-so-interesting.

We just love Marcella’s bold designs and that super enticing outer layer of decorative sponge cake!

Speed racer wedding cake…

Oregon is for lovers wedding cake…

Is it midnight yet wedding cake…

Pink stripe wedding cake…

Vintage wedding cake…

{Images via M. Robin Cakes}

To make these yummy treats, you’ll need the following:

3 Cups Rice Krispies

1/3 Cup Brown Rice Syrup or Maple Syrup or Golden Syrup {We used golden syrup}

1/3 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Quality Chocolate

1 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter to coat the dish

Directions

Heat the golden syrup and peanut butter over medium heat for approximately 2 to 3 minutes or until it looks like a thick syrup. Add vanilla.

Put the rice krispies in a large bowl and pour the syrup mixture on top and mix until evenly incorporated.

Press rice mix into buttered 9×9 dish and push it down with the back of a spoon. Put it in the fridge while you make the chocolate layer.

Set a metal or glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water and add chocolate to melt slowly, stirring occasionally. Make sure your bowl avoids all contact with water. Chocolate will seize and become unworkable if it comes into contact with even a few drops of water.

Pour the chocolate on top of the rice krispies and quickly spread it evenly across the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours and then cut into squares.

We recommend that you make these wedding favors the day before your wedding and keep them stored in the fridge, as the rice starts to absorb moisture after two days.

{Recipe adapted from Vanilla & Lace}

What You’ll Need

1 Pound Walnut Halves. If you like your walnuts extra sugary, cut down on the amount of nuts.

1 Cup White Sugar

2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

6 Tablespoons Milk

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F {175 degrees C}.

Spread walnuts on a baking sheet in a single layer.

Roast walnuts for approximately 8-10 minutes or until they start to turn brown. Remove from oven.

While your walnuts are roasting, stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt and milk in a saucepan.

Cook over medium to high heat for 8 minutes or until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage of 236 degrees F {113 degrees C} or starts caramelizing.

Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla.

Add walnuts to syrup mixture and stir to coat.

Spoon walnuts onto baking paper and separate with a fork.

Cool and store in airtight container.

Presentation

Place desired amount of candied walnuts into clear cello bags and seal. We used clear cello bags with self seal lips, but you could also just staple them shut.

Next, cut out a piece of decorative paper to cover the top of the bag.

Staple decorative paper onto bag.

Tie a ribbon around the paper to hide staples and then add a pretty tag.

These wedding favors only took about 20 minutes to make, but are bound to be a hit because they’re just so darn tasty and smell amazing too.

{Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com}

What You’ll Need

12 Ounces Dark Chocolate

1 and 1/3 Cups Puffed Cereal

½ Cup Almonds Pieces

1 cup Dried Cranberries Chopped

Sea Salt

Pretty jars

Directions

Set a metal or glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water and add chocolate to melt slowly, stirring occasionally. Make sure your bowl avoids all contact with water. Chocolate will seize and become unworkable if it comes into contact with even a few drops of water.

Place puffed cereal, almond pieces and cranberries in a bowl.

Remove the chocolate from the heat and gently mix with the puffed cereal, nuts and dried fruit.

Allow everything to sit for approximately five minutes to cool.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Using a spoon and your fingers, dollop tablespoons of the mix onto the baking paper. Repeat until all the mixture is used.

Sprinkle the morsels liberally with sea salt. Then put the tray in the fridge for approximately 15 minutes, so that the morsels completely set.

Lastly, put the morsels into pretty jars and add fabric, twine and tags.

We love that these treats keep for much longer than baked goods and that they look so decadent when packaged in pretty little jars with fabric and twine. Delicious and gorgeous.

{Recipe adapted from Sprouted Kitchen}

*Makes approximately 24 morsels

Rosalind was a former artist and graphic designer and we love that she now uses her artistic abilities to make amazingly unique wedding cakes and cupcakes that are contemporary yet very romantic.

It comes as no surprise that Rosalind’s exquisite couture cakes and cupcakes are described as “edible works of art”.

We couldn’t help but smile when we found out that that Rosalind’s wedding cakes and cupcakes are traditionally home baked using specially created recipes and that organic and fair trade ingredients are used wherever possible. Love that.

{Images via Rosalind Miller Cakes & Peggy’s Cupcakes}

Cake Ink use custom design and colour schemes to create everything from the invitations to the cake. You can choose from their range of ready-to-go themes or work with them to develop a unique and matching look specific to your event.

Cake Ink is located in Melbourne and their specialty in creating insanely gorgeous dessert buffets, which you can see below. Cake Ink also stocks a range of ready-made party kits that make the DIY process a lot easier.

{Cake wedding inspirations via Cake Ink}

When we saw this sweet idea it sparked a light bulb moment and we thought why not incorporate this fondue idea with the wedding cupcake trend. Now that’s bound to be a wedding dessert hit, especially with the kiddies.

Below you’ll find the DIY instructions for these sugary treats.

Step 1: Make a batch of your favourite mini cupcakes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before dipping.

Step 2: Make the fondue {which is code for “runny frosting”} by whisking together powdered sugar, orange juice, and corn syrup. Adjust the consistency with a drop of liquid or a dash more powdered sugar until you get a smooth/thick glaze. You can change the flavour and colour of the fondue by adding a different liquid portion i.e. instead of orange juice, you could add grape juice.

Step 3. Pour fondue into the fondue pot. Display sprinkles and toppings in small cups around the fondue pot. Skewer cupcakes in the side and dip the top half into the fondue, then flip the cupcake over and decorate with your choice of toppings. Note that there’s no need to heat the mixture, but you can keep a small tea light underneath just to add a little something something to the presentation.

Ingredients & Materials

-3 cups powdered sugar

-1/3 cup liquid (orange juice, fruit juice, milk, or water)

-2 tablespoons light corn syrup

-Miniature-size cupcakes in the flavour of your choice, cooled and unfrosted

-Assorted sprinkles, chopped nuts, and other toppings

For more details and pictures, head over to Pint Size Social.

{Images via Bake It Pretty & Pint Size Social}

We spotted this wedding cake over at Design Cuisine and just think it would make for the most perfect destination wedding cake or a vintage inspired soiree. The vintage stamps were found online by the bride and reproduced for her wedding cake. A vintage suitcase was then used as the cake stand. Amazing idea, right?

Another wedding cake stamp idea that we love is the vintage stamp garland that can be hang from your cake. These garlands are available at d Sharp.

Happy stamping!