Are you looking to whip-up a fancy, yet relatively simple desert for Christmas lunch or dinner? Look no further! Wow your guests with this incredible Pavlova, brought to you straight from the talented Ilala kitchen.
Meringue
Ingredients:
- 4 egg whites
- 225g castor sugar
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 1tsp white wine vinegar
Method:
- Heat the oven to 180°C/fan or 160°C /gas.
- Cover a baking tray with baking parchment.Whisk the egg whites with an electric beater until egg whites form stiff and shiny peaks.
- Gradually add the sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time and whisk really well between each addition
- When all of the sugar is used up continue whisking for 3-4 mins or until the meringue is stiff and glossy and stands up in peaks, then whisk in the cornflour and vinegar.
- Spoon the mixture on to the baking parchment and use a palette knife to make a circle about 6-7cm in diameter
- Put the baking tray in the oven and turn temperature down to 120°C/Fan or 100°C/gas and bake for 1½hrs.Turn the oven off and leave the meringue inside until completely cold.(You can make this the day before and leave to cool overnight)
* makes 12 small meringues
Lemon avocado mousse
Ingredients:
- 3 avocados
- Juice of one lemon
- approx. 4 tablespoons of raw honey (adjust to taste)
- 80ml elderflower cordial
- Handful of mint leaves finely chopped
Method
- Combine all ingredients using a hand held blender.
- Pass through a fine sieve to get a smooth mousse
- Put the lemon and avocado mousse into a container and leave the mousse in the freezer to firm up about 1-2 hrs.
Vanilla infused berries
Ingredients:
- 200g Mixed Berries, Fresh or frozen.
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 1 vanilla pod cut in half lengthways and seeds scraped
Method:
- Place the ingredients in a saucepan and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the contents of the pan to the bowl of a liquidizer and blend the contents until they are of an ever consistency
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. Pour the coulis into the sieve and work it through with the back of a spoon making sure to catch all the liquid in the bowl.
- The sieving process will remove all of the seeds and other debris leaving you with a nice smooth Coulis.
Plating the pavlova
- Select some seasonal fruit of your choice,for ours we used cherries,plums,strawberries,peaches and kiwifruit
- All the fruit should be thinly sliced to the same size except for the cherries which we used whole.
- Use half a Tablespoon of the vanilla infused berries on the plate and place the meringue on top.
- Put a Tablespoon of the vanilla infused berries in the middle of your meringue and layer your fruit on top of this leaving the cherries for the top.
- Get a nice medium sized scoop of you lemon and avocado mousse on the side and finish off with spun sugar if you like