I was in my twenties before I tasted a pavlova for the first time. It was something my Mum never made when I was growing up, and I never understood the excitement at parties when everyone would devour it. Obviously, I never knew what I was missing. These days, I can’t imagine having a gathering without a pavlova on the table. It’s easy, can be made in advance and it’s a great crowd pleaser that can be topped with whatever seasonal fruit (or chocolate) you like. I always tend to make a curd such as this pineapple one, lemon or passionfruit, in order to use up the egg yolks leftover from the meringue.
What you’ll need …
6 large free-range egg whites
¼ tsp salt
100 gm brown sugar
200 gm caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp extra
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp cornflour, sifted
600 ml cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
375 gm fresh raspberries
Pineapple Curd
½ cup pineapple juice
2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 lime, juiced
¼ tsp salt
100 gm cold unsalted butter, cubed
What to do …
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Place egg whites and salt into a large clean bowl and use electric beaters to whisk until they start to form firm peaks. With your mixer still running, gradually add the sugars until combined, whisk for 6 minutes until the meringue is stiff, glossy and smooth. Add vinegar and cornflour and whisk to combine. Use a 20cm cake tin to trace two circles onto two pieces of baking and transfer onto baking trays, ensuring you turn them over. Divide mixture evenly between them and use a spatula to shape into two circles. Transfer to oven and immediately reduce oven to 120°C. Bake meringues for 1 hour until slightly golden and crisp on the outside; cool.
Meanwhile, for the curd, place the pineapple juice, eggs and yolks, sugar, lime juice and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk to combine. Once warm, add the butter a little at a time and continue to whisk until all combined and the mixture thickens (do not allow the mixture to boil as it will split), a low constant heat it what you need. Remove from the heat, cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set. (Leftover curd will keep in a clean sealed jar in the refrigerator for a couple weeks).
Place the cream in a bowl with vanilla extract and 2 tbsp caster sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. To assemble pavlova, place one meringue on cake stand and top with half the cream, spoon over some pineapple curd and half the raspberries. Top with the other meringue, repeat with cream, curd and remaining raspberries.
