Blueberry Pavlova
Servings: 10 slices
This blueberry pavlova, in my opinion, is the perfect indulgent dessert to finish any meal. A crispy outer shell and a fluffy marshmallow centre, topped with pillows of whipped cream and fresh blueberries.
INGREDIENTS LIST
- 4 medium egg whites
- 260 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp of vanilla paste (optional)
- 1 tsp lemon Juice (apple vinegar, or cream of tartar)
- 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch) (US - cornstarch)
Decoration
- 250 ml whipping cream (heavy cream)
- 250 g fresh or frozen blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Preparation
- Weigh out your ingredients at the start to make it a little easier to prepare.
- Line a baking tray with baking parchment and draw a circle of the desired size you wish the final meringue to be. I used a 20cm (8inch) base of a springform pan to draw around, a plate also works.
- Meringue: In a large clean mixing bowl or stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until they start to form soft peaks.
- Keep mixing and gradually add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, allowing the egg whites to incorporate the sugar slowly and remain stable. If you add the sugar too quickly the egg whites will collapse.
- Once all the sugar is added, continue whisking until the egg whites form stiff peaks (holds its shape when pulling out the whisk) and the sugar has dissolved (rub a little of the mix between your finger and thumb and you should not be able to feel any sugar grains).
- Whisk in the lemon juice, vanilla and cornflour.
- Preheat the oven to 130°C fan / 265F / Gas 1/2.
- Spoon the meringue into the centre of your drawn circle and smooth it out into a cake shape. An optional extra is to pipe some small meringues to decorate: Use a star nozzle to pipe 6-8 small meringues onto some baking paper. Place them in the oven when the large meringue only has 30 minutes remaining to bake.
- Use a small pallet knife or spoon and draw up at an angle from the bottom edge to the top. Work your way around the outside edge until you have gone all the way around.
- Baking: Place the meringue on the middle shelf and then turn down the oven to 100°C fan / 212F / Gas 1/4 for another 90 minutes.
- Once baked, turn off the oven and leave to cool inside for 40 minutes. Then remove and leave on the side to cool completely.
- Decoration: Whip the cream until you get soft peaks. Once the meringue has cooled, gently tap around the centre to create a hole. Fill the hole with some of the fruit and then top with the whipped cream. Finally, add the remaining blueberries or blueberry compote and serve.If you are using fresh fruit you can also dust with icing sugar before serving.
- Optional blueberry compote: In a small saucepan bring half the blueberries to a boil with the 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Let it boil for 3-5 minutes and then remove from the heat to cool. Once cooled, I like to blend the blueberry mixture to make a nice sauce which I then add my remaining whole blueberries to. Leave to cool and then spoon over the cream.
Notes & Tips
- Sugar ratio - is important if you want to get a really good French meringue. A ratio of 2:1, sugar to egg is ideal. I have estimated the amount of sugar for 4 egg whites in this recipe, which works - but if you want to get it as close to perfect as possible you should weigh the egg whites and then use double the amount of sugar. (For example: 1 egg white weighs 33g = 66g sugar)
- Whisking egg whites - you should always start with a large spotless clean bowl and ensure that no egg yolk or grease can come into contact with them. It is also important to use eggs that are not too fresh and at room temperature. The protein in fresh eggs is really tight, meaning it will take much longer to whisk them and you may end up over whisking them.
- Cracks - are not always avoidable and there is nothing wrong with that. To get the best crisp shell and soft centre, we bake at a low temperature and cool it in the oven turned off for 40-50 minutes. This dries out the meringue avoiding major cracks, then we remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely at room temperature. Let the pavlova cool completely before assembling.
