Exotic Pavlova Inspired by Jeffrey Cagnes

In a bowl, combine the softened butter, icing sugar, sifted flour, almond flour and salt. Rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Once the mixture is sandy, add the eggs and mix until a dough forms.

Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.

Roll the pastry out to 2–3 mm thickness. Prick lightly with a fork, then cut out 6 discs of 7.5 cm in diameter.

Bake for about 25 minutes (baking time depends on your oven and pastry thickness). Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Pour into 6 rings of 7 cm diameter and leave to set.

Note: aim for a confit layer about 1 cm thick in each ring. I used the same rings as for baking the shortcrust, but the pastry shrinks slightly during baking. Unless you chill the pastry discs in the fridge for several hours beforehand (which helps prevent shrinkage), I recommend pouring the confit into slightly smaller rings so it doesn’t overhang the shortcrust. Bear in mind the meringue will be placed on top afterwards.

In a saucepan, cook the fruit purées over a gentle heat and bring to the boil.

Add the pre-mixed sugar and NH pectin, then maintain a rolling boil for 2 minutes. Pour into 6 rings of 7 cm diameter and leave to set.

Soak the gelatine in cold water.

In a saucepan, combine the passion fruit purée, eggs and sugar, whisking everything together.

Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 83°C / 181°F — it will thicken like a crème anglaise. Do not exceed this temperature. If you don’t have a thermometer, use chef Michalak’s trick: whisk the mixture quickly then stop — if the “whirlpool” stops dead, the cream is at the right temperature.

Add the squeezed gelatine and stir to combine.

Pass through a sieve into a jug. Once cooled to about 35°C / 95°F, add the butter and blend with a hand blender until smooth and homogeneous.

Pour into a wide dish to cool more quickly. Cover with cling film pressed to the surface, leave to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 90°C / 194°F (100°C / 210°F maximum). Chef Jeffrey Cagnes recommends 110°C / 225°F, but I find the meringue loses its whiteness at that temperature.

Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Ideally the whites should be at room temperature.

Add a pinch of salt if you wish.

Begin whisking the whites with an electric mixer or stand mixer on low speed to incorporate as much air as possible. The whites will start to foam.

Once the whites have started to hold, gradually add the caster sugar while continuing to whisk.

Keep whisking to stiffen the meringue. When you lift the whisk, a bird’s-beak peak should form.

Gently fold in the sifted icing sugar with a spatula.

Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle of 20 mm diameter.

Line a baking tray with a Silpat or parchment paper. Pipe 4 rounds of meringue, one on top of the other from largest to smallest, to form a tree shape. Repeat until all the meringue is used (you should get at least 6 domes).

Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes (1 hour at 110°C / 225°F according to the chef).

The meringue is done when it lifts cleanly off the parchment. It should be crisp on the outside and very soft inside (as it will be filled with chantilly).

Place the bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

Add all the ingredients to the cold bowl and begin whisking at medium speed. Once the cream starts to firm up a little, increase the speed. The cream will gradually mount and stiffen.

Check the consistency periodically by stopping the mixer. The chantilly is ready when it is completely set — if you tip the bowl upside down, it should not fall. Take care not to over-whip, or the cream will become greasy and start to turn to butter. Knowing when to stop is key.

Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle of 15 mm diameter and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Peel the pineapple and dice it finely into a brunoise (small cubes).

Zest the lime over the pineapple brunoise, add a squeeze of lime juice, and gently mix with a spatula.

Set aside in the refrigerator.

Remove the mango passion confit discs from their rings and cut a hole in the centre using a round cutter (large enough to hold the pineapple brunoise).

Place the confit rings on top of the sweet shortcrust discs.

Fill the central hole with pineapple brunoise, pressing it down gently with the back of a spoon.

Pipe rounds of chantilly over the confit, making sure there are no gaps between each ball.

Pipe a little passion fruit crémeux on top of the pineapple — it will be held in place by the surrounding chantilly balls.

Use a small nozzle to make a hole in the base of the meringue dome and fill with chantilly.

Finally, place the meringue dome on the dessert. You can, like the chef, dust the meringues with a little icing sugar.