Summer Berry Pavlova
No recipe sums up my mother’s cooking more to me than her meringues. She went through a real phase, a 30 year phase (give or take), where she made meringues monthly. Her kitchen wasn’t complete without a wicker basket full of meringues on the side somewhere.
I am using her recipe to make this impressive but simple pavlova, it is much easier to make than you would think. She would serve her meringues always with fresh berries from the garden and whipped cream.
When making meringues it is worth making a few shapes - little kiss shaped meringues, large cloud like meringues and a pavlova base. They will keep well in airtight containers and you can then serve them in a variety of ways.
Summer Pavlova with strawberries and raspberries
ingredients
6 egg whites (3/4 cup)
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
to serve
whipped cream, ice cream, your favourite berries
method
Heat oven to 130C fan oven. In a standing mixer beat the egg whites until holding soft peaks. Then gradually beat in 1 cup of sugar. Mix in the lemon juice, and then gradually beat in the remaining sugar in increments. The mixture should be glossy and voluminous.
Bake in little (or large) dolloping swirls on greaseproof paper until delicately browned and crusty 60 minutes (for a chewy centre) and up to 90 minutes for crisp. Adjust this also depending on their size.
Cool an store in an airtight container until serving. They will keep for a while like this.
Serve the meringue filled with whipped cream and plenty of fresh berries. You can also dust with a little icing sugar.
