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Hens deserve better this mother’s day

Published 9th May 2012

Spoil your mum this mother’s day and support the RSPCA’s latest campaign, Hens Deserve Better.

Can you believe over 11 million hens are still confined to barren battery cages here in Australia? Paying that little bit extra for cage-free eggs can make a huge difference to the lives of layer hens – who are beautiful, smart and inquisitive creatures.

While spending time with your ‘mother hen’ on Sunday, celebrate cage-free hens by treating your mum to something sweet using cage-free eggs.

This fabulous twist on Pavlova is delish … it’s an adaptation of a recipe from ‘cage-free hen fan’, Jamie Oliver (where he also adds toffee and fresh mint leaves – yum)!

Pavlova with Hazelnuts and berries

Ingredients

Meringue
8 cage-free egg whites (RSPCA Approved eggs are best)
220 grams of castor sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp white vinegar

Topping
200g thickened cream*, whipped
2 tbsp icing sugar (whip through cream)
2 cups of mixed berries – raspberries and blueberries are great
1 x cup hazelnuts, roasted in the oven and roughly chopped/crushed

Pre-heat oven – 150 degrees celsius. Whisk egg whites using an electric beater until soft peaks form. Add sugar, continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth (not grainy from the sugar). Whisk in the cornflour, and vinegar until combined. Spoon mixture onto baking paper – creating rectangle shapes x 2 – these should have a height of at least 2 inches. Reduce the heat in the oven to 120 degrees celsius and place the baking tray in oven. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. Switch off the oven and leave the meringues to cool.

For serving top the meringue with cream, berries and nuts, then layer with 2nd meringue and repeat.

* Dairy – The sheer scale of commercial dairy production in Australia has led to some serious animal welfare problems in the dairy industry. Contact the makers of your favourite dairy products (be they milk, yoghurt or cheese) to find out more about their standards for bobby calf and cow welfare.