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Summer Pavlova

Hello friends,

So part two of my baking at the weekend was to use up some fruit I had in the fridge, and what says summer more that a pavlova! This recipe is for a strawberry and raspberry pavlova, however you can throw in any type of fruit you fancy - why not try blueberries and blackberries, or maybe go for a Caribbean pineapple and cherry combo? I also added a little bit of colour to the meringue using pink food dye swirled on a cocktail stick, to make it look extra special:




Ingredients:


150g egg whites (approx 3 eggs)
300g caster sugar

350ml double cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Chopped strawberries and raspberries, or other fruit as you fancy

Method:

Preheat your oven to 100C, and line a baking tray with parchment.

Put the sugar in a heatproof bowl and put into the oven. In a clean bowl beat the egg whites, firstly at a slow speed until small bubbles for (which will stabilise the mixture) and then at a faster speed until they form stiff peaks. You can test this by holding the bowl upside down, and if whipped enough the egg whites won't fall out on you!

Take the sugar out of the oven, and slowly start incorporating this into the egg white, making sure the mixture returns to stiff peaks after every spoon you add. Once all the sugar is added keep beating for another 5-7 minutes until the mixture is glossy and will form a peak on an upturned finger. If you rub between your fingers you shouldn't feel any grains of sugar remaining.

Pour the mixture onto the baking tray, and shape in a circle. Create a slight dip in the centre so that the cream can sit in it later. If you want to add in some colour, dip a cocktail stick into some food colouring and swirl into the meringue - I used pink and a wavy pattern on my bake.

Put in the oven and bake for two hours. The meringue is ready when the bottom is firm and slides off of the parchment. Allow to cool fully.

To assemble, place the whipped cream onto the cool meringue and scatter your fruit over the top. To finish you can sprinkle over some icing sugar for a little bit of sweetness on the fruit. Place into the fridge until you are ready to serve, then enjoy!








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