Summer Berry Pavlova

With Summer starting to rear its wonderful head it seems as though the UK may have a chance at those long Summer nights we are all so desperately longing for and what better way to celebrate the start of the bright days and the alfresco dining options than with a fresh berry pavlova that is packed full of delicious fruity morsels. This beautiful creation has been created by Andrea Brice a food photographer, recipe developer and pasty chef originally from Venezuela but currently residing in London and she is our brand-new Insta-obsession. Her seasonal bake is made extra special with added apricots and peaches and finished with a deliciously oozy compote insert and sprigs of thyme before being finished with a velvety vanilla cream. Perfection.

Summer Fruit Pavlova

For the meringue:
4 egg whites
225g caster sugar
2g lemon juice
3g corn starch
Pinch of salt

For the compote:
50g apricot
50g peach
50g caster sugar
5 Thyme sprigs
Half lemon juice

Vanilla whipped cream
300g double cream
30g icing sugar
1/2 scrapped vanilla bean.

Optional:
20g white chocolate.

Method.

1.     Start out by making the compote to allow it to cool down. Place in a pan the chopped fruit with the sugar and the thyme, bring it to a boil on a medium heat for 15 minutes, after its reduced turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Leave to infuse with the thyme.

2.     Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Trace a 17cm diameter circle on a parchment paper and flip on to a tray so it doesn’t come through to the meringue while baking. Start out by whipping up the egg whites with an electric mixer on a medium speed, once they are slightly whipped start gradually and slowly raining in the sugar, corn starch and salt. Continue to whip until stiff peaks.

3.     Pour the meringue on to the parchment paper, the circle you drew previously on it will help you to have a more defined shape. You should end up having a volcano shape meringue. 

4.     Place the tray inside the oven and turn down the heat to 120 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Once out of the oven it will collapse a little in the centre, this is normal.

5.     Meltdown the white chocolate (optional) and in the centre of the pavlova brush a thin layer and wait for it to set again. This is going to help avoid the meringue from getting soggy after we put in the compote.

6.     While the chocolate is cooling down, start by whipping up the double cream with the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.

7.     Pour the cooled compote in the centre of the pavlova once the white chocolate is cooled down and set. Follow by pouring the vanilla whipped cream up till the top and slightly to the edges. 

8.     Finish the garnishing the pavlova with fresh apricots, peaches, blueberries, blackberries and thyme. Enjoy it the same day. 

For more delicious bakes visit andrebriphoto.com