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Autumn Fruit Pavlova

Hi Everyone

Early Autumn is a great time for plenty of wild fruits so you can be creative with your own pavlova and add your favourite fruits of the season.

The starting point in this recipe is to make the meringue base – a mixture of whipped egg whites and sugar baked on a low heat for and hour and a half until crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside.  Meringues are easy to prepare and we are using our meringue base this week to decorate with delicious Autumn fruits to show how you can have a show stopping pavlova for your dinner table.

When making your meringue it is best to use eggs at room temperature as they will whisk more easily. Cold egg whites tend to reduce meringue volume.

Gill x

Preparation Time:
20 minutes
Cooking Time:
2 hours
Serves: 8

Ingredients

  • 5 large egg whites
  • 300g caster sugar
  • Half a teaspoon vinegar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour sifted
  • 300ml whipping cream
  • 1 heaped tbsp icing sugar
  • 2 peaches halved stoned and sliced
  • 3 good handfuls of brambles or blackberries
  • 1 pomegranate seeds removed

    Method

    1. Heat the oven to 140C. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and roughly draw a circle with a 25cm diameter on it. 
    2. In a large clean metal or glass bowl whisk the egg whites until still peaks form. Gradually beat in the sugar a little at a time until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Next fold in the vinegar and cornflour.
    3. Spread half of the meringue mixture onto the parchment paper to give a 25cm circle then using a piping bag with nozzle, fill it with the remaining meringue mixture and pipe around 15 small swirls equally around the edge of the circle.
    4. Pop into the oven and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes or until the outside is crisp. Turn off the oven but leave the meringue inside for another hour then remove and cool completely.
    5. When the meringue is cold and you are almost ready to serve, whip the cream adding in the icing sugar and spoon over the meringue. Then to finish top with the fruits and serve.

    Nicki's Tuppenceworth

    I am a HUGE fan of a pavlova - its my showstopper of a party piece whenever I have a party or I'm away with the girls.  My top tip is to drizzle a layer of lemon curd or passion fruit curd onto the meringue below the cream. Heavenly with berries! 

    Leave your comments here and please do share this with your friends! You can also share your photographs and ideas with us. We'd love to see them. As always, tag them #PerthLoveFest and we'll scatter them around our own social media.

    Nicki X