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Raspberry Pavlova

Introduction & method

This amazing meringue-based dessert was created to honour the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in the early 20th century. There is some argument as to whether pavlova was invented in Australia or New Zealand, but whichever it was, it's absolutely delicious.

Raspberry Pavlova Recipe

Make the Meringue


Preheat your oven to 100°C (212°F) for a fan oven, 120°C (248°F) for a conventional one. Separate your egg yolks and whites (you can use the yolks to make custard). Be very careful not to get any egg yolk in with your egg whites. Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, beat the whites until you reach the stiff peaks stage - about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar and beat until it doesn't feel gritty. Finally, beat in the cream of tartar - this apparently gives it more volume.

Take a baking sheet and a piece of baking parchment/greaseproof paper. Draw a circle the desired diameter for your pavlova (mine was 18cm -7 inches), using a pan lid or dish/plate of the right size as a guide. Turn the paper over and centre it on the baking sheet. Spoon a layer of meringue mix into the circle and right up to the edge. Now spoon more meringue around the edge to build up a kind of nest. Use a spatula to form vertical channels around the edge.

Place in the oven and bake for one hour. Turn off the oven and leave the meringue to cool very slowly in the oven - this may take 1-2 hours. You can open the oven door slightly to let heat out, but any attempt to move the meringue or any exposure to draughts will cause the meringue shell to crack or even collapse.

Make the Chantilly Cream


You can top your pavlova with ordinary whipped cream or make up some Chantilly cream. To do this, just beat together the cream, sugar and vanilla essence until it is stiff. Pile the cream into the cooled meringue nest. By the way, if your meringue looks too pale, just run a blowtorch over the outside to give it some colour.

Prep the Fruit


Wash your fruit and trim off any leaves etc. You can use raspberries or strawberries for this pavlova, or even sliced kiwi fruits. Arrange the fruit on top of the cream.

Make Coulis


Optionally, you can make a quick fruit coulis to dribble over the pavlova. I like to do this because it gives a super-intense flavour and it gets rid of the pips. Making coulis is incredibly easy - just pop the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice into an immersion blender and whizz until smooth. Press the mixture through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon, getting as much liquid out as possible.

Dribble the coulis over and around the pavlova.



The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Raspberry Pavlova on YouTube.

 

Ingredients & Info


MERINGUE
 4 egg whitess
 250 grams caster (powdered) sugar
 half a tsp cream of tartar
  TOPPING
 125 ml double cream
 60 grams icing (confectioners) sugar
  vanilla essence
 100 grams raspberries
  COULIS (OPTIONAL)
 130 grams raspberries
 1 tbsp icing (confectioners) sugar
 squeeze of lemon juice

UNITS:
Metric
US Customary/Imperial

Serves 4 -6
Prep time: 15 minutes.
Cooling time: 1-2 hours.
Cooking time: 1 hour.
Total time: 2 hours 15 minutes.