It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, so I’m a bit behind with my posting. The main reason is because we are on the final countdown before our 9-month sabbatical and this weekend I’m going to be packing up my kitchen.
However, with family here from the UK, I couldn’t resist making a classic pavlova over the weekend.
I say classic, but this recipe from Neil Perry is anything but!
It’s not slow cooked at a low temperature as per my other recipes. It’s baked at 160C for only 1 hour whereas I’m used to 120C for 1.5 hours.
I also love this recipe because it uses both the whites for the meringue and yolks to create a passionfruit curd which is folded into the whipped cream topping.
It was absolutely delicious, but most importantly it had a great rise and crunchy shell.
Neil Perry’s Passionfruit Pavlova
315g eggwhites (about 10)
525g caster sugar
3tsp cornflour
3tsp white vinegar
2tsp vanilla extract
Passionfruit curd
4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
80ml passionfruit pulp (from about 4 passionfruit), plus 80ml extra, to serve
50g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
1½tsp lime juice
Vanilla cream
1 litre (4 cups) pouring cream
2tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat oven to 200C.
Whisk eggwhites and a pinch salt in an electric mixer on low speed until they start to break up, then increase speed to medium and beat until soft peaks form (2 minutes). Add one-third of sugar and whisk to combine, then gradually add remaining sugar and whisk on high> speed until stiff peaks form (2-3 minutes). Fold through cornflour, vinegar and vanilla, then form into a 24cm-diameter round with edges slightly higher than centre on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Reduce oven to 160C and bake pavlova until lightly browned on the outside and cooked on the inside (25-35 minutes), turn oven off and stand in oven for 10 minutes, then remove and cool to room temperature (1 hour).
Meanwhile, for passionfruit curd, place yolks in a heatproof bowl, whisk to combine. Combine sugar, passionfruit pulp and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stir occasionally until butter melts and sugar dissolves (5 minutes). Add one-third of passionfruit mixture to yolks, whisking continuously, then return to pan and stir continuously until thickened (3 minutes). Do not boil. Add lime juice, remove from heat, pass through a coarse sieve into a container. Cover closely with plastic wrap, cool (10 minutes), then refrigerate until chilled (1 hour).
For vanilla cream, whisk cream, sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks in a bowl.
Fold passionfruit curd through vanilla cream, then form quenelles of mixture and spoon over pavlova. Top with extra passionfruit pulp and serve.
Note: I didn’t do the quenelles and added 2 sliced kiwi fruit.
Project Pastry 
Lovely