These pavlovas are so versatile and can be served with many different flavour combinations. Summer fruits are a classic, but you could make a salted pistachio crème fraiche and poached apricots or crush them up on top of your favourite ice cream with some melted chocolate or caramel sauce.
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 150˚C (top end of the ‘Cool’ setting on ESSE dial) and line a baking sheet with silicon paper.
Meringue ingredients
- 175g caster sugar
- 3 large (90g) egg whites
The important thing when making meringues is to make sure your mixing bowl is clean and dry and there is no residue of fat.
Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks then start to add a dessert spoon of sugar at a time, whisking the sugar in well each time until all the sugar is fully blended in – the meringue mix should be smooth and shiny – not grainy.
Using a 1cm plain piping nozzle and piping bag, fill the bag with the meringue mix and pipe into nice domes on your prepared tray. If you don’t have a nozzle you can use a metal spoon to make more rustic shapes.
Place the meringues in the oven with the vent closed and turn the heat down to 140˚C (middle of the ‘Cool’ scale on ESSE dial). After 40 minutes, open the steam release vent.
Blueberry and raspberry sauce
- 125g raspberries
- 75g blueberries
- 30g caster sugar
- 1/2 juice of a lemon
Blend the blueberries and raspberries together in a liquidiser, pass through a fine sieve to remove pips, season to taste with the sugar and lemon juice.
Chantilly cream
- 250g double cream
- 50g caster sugar
- 1/2 a vanilla pod or a tsp vanilla essence
Whisk the cream with the vanilla and sugar to soft peaks.
To serve, pipe or spoon the cream into the centre of your serving dish, pour a small amount of the sauce around, garnish with some berries and top with a pavlova. I also used some wild sorrel I picked in the woods and dusted with some freeze-dried raspberry powder.
Recipe provided by Dominique Ashford, pastry chef
