Before telling you about my new recipe, I wish each and every one of you an excellent 2019, hoping it brings you lots of joy, little moments of happiness and just as much indulgence as ever, if not more! (let’s go wild :P).
I’ve made 2 new Yule logs since the last post, and even though they were hugely popular on Instagram, you’ll have to be patient since they won’t be published until next Christmas. Yule logs instead of galettes, that makes no sense anymore, does it?
I say that, but it’s not galette des rois (King cake) on the menu today (if you’re interested, you can find on the blog a traditional frangipane recipe as well as a hazelnut and gianduja recipe). It’s a pavlova recipe, one of my favourite desserts. In principle, it’s super simple to make: a meringue, chantilly and fruit, and for the flavours, we treat ourselves! I had a very precise visual in mind and I’m rather pleased with the result because this recipe, I didn’t borrow it from anywhere.
Inside the exotic pavlova, you’ll find a pineapple and calamansi diplomat cream (I know, I put it in everything! But I love it, it gives a zing to any exotic dessert).
At first, I had thought of a crémeux but there’s no denying it, I like crémeux less and less, all I can taste is the butter… I tried it for this recipe too, but given the choice, I preferred the diplomat cream and that’s what I put in the pavlovas. Then I hid a pineapple and lime compote in there. Use a Victoria pineapple, the taste is incomparable! As for the chantilly, I decided to add a little mascarpone (but you don’t have to). Flavoured with vanilla, this chantilly is delicious and deliberately not very sweet because let’s not forget there’s also the meringue, which is already quite sweet.
I had no particular occasion for this dessert, just a precise craving for the pavlova assembly. So of course, 12 pavlovas (yes, I did 2 trials to get the expected result)… that’s a fair few desserts. And for once, my neighbour taste-testers weren’t there (poor things!!!!). So we ate everything, my sweetheart and I (ok, I managed to give away 2 all the same). So you can believe me when I tell you that this dessert is super fresh and above all super light! We had barely devoured the first pavlova and we already wanted a second one *gulp*.
Ingredients & Method
5 components · Full recipe
Victoria pineapple compote (make the day before)
Ingredients
- 300 g (10.6 oz) Victoria pineapple
- 12 g (0.4 oz) light brown sugar
- 6 g (0.2 oz) pectin
- zest of ½ lime
Method
1
First, cut off both ends of the pineapple with a serrated knife. Slice off the skin flush with the flesh. Remove the eyes by cutting diagonally along each line. Cut the pineapple into quarters and remove the hard core.
2
Dice 150 g (5.3 oz) of pineapple into a fine brunoise and blend 150 g (5.3 oz) to a smooth purée.
3
In a saucepan, combine the pineapple purée and brunoise and heat to approximately 40°C / 104°F.
4
Add the sugar and pectin mixture and whisk together (it is important to mix the sugar and pectin together first to avoid lumps).
5
Bring to a boil and cook for one minute.
6
Off the heat, add the lime zest.
7
Pour into a mini demi-sphere mould (mine has 3.5 cm (1.4 in) cavities but it is flat on top rather than a true dome). Freeze for at least 2 hours (or make the day before).
Meringue
Ingredients
- 140 g (4.9 oz) egg whites
- 140 g (4.9 oz) caster sugar
- 140 g (4.9 oz) icing sugar
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 90°C / 194°F.
2
Separate the whites from the yolks. Ideally, the whites should be at room temperature.
3
Start whisking the egg whites in a stand mixer or with a hand-held mixer at low speed to incorporate as much air as possible. The whites will begin to foam.
4
Gradually add the caster sugar once the whites have already started to build up.
5
Continue whisking to stiffen the whites. When you lift the whisk from the meringue, a firm peak (bird’s beak) should form.
6
Fold in the sifted icing sugar gently using a spatula.
7
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a smooth 20 mm nozzle.
8
Take a 5 cm (2 in) demi-sphere mould, turn it upside down on a baking tray lined with baking paper and spray with a thin layer of non-stick release spray. Pipe rounds of meringue on top, holding the bag straight so the meringue settles gradually. You can smooth away any small peaks now if you wish, though you can also file them off afterwards. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
9
Leave the meringues to cool completely without touching them. Once cooled, they should peel away without any trouble. If small patches of coloured sugar have formed, these can be removed by hand.
10
Store in an airtight container. With my mould, I was able to pipe 6 meringue domes at a time. Having only one mould of that size, I repeated the process to end up with 12 domes in total. If you have any meringue left over, pipe small rounds.
Pineapple and kalamansi diplomat cream (you will have some left over)
Ingredients
- 160 g (5.6 oz) pineapple purée
- 90 g (3.2 oz) kalamansi purée
- 40 g (1.4 oz) egg yolks
- 50 g (1.8 oz) sugar
- 25 g (0.9 oz) cornstarch
- 3 g (0.1 oz) gelatin (1½ sheets)
- 200 g (7.1 oz) heavy cream
Method
1
Soak the gelatin sheets in very cold water.
2
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.
3
Add the cornstarch and mix.
4
Bring the fruit purées to a boil in a large saucepan. Pour three-quarters of the hot liquid into the bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining purée.
5
Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens, about 2–3 minutes.
6
Transfer to a bowl, add the squeezed-out gelatin and stir to combine.
7
Cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface and leave to cool.
8
Once the pastry cream is completely cold, take it out of the fridge and beat with a whisk until smooth.
9
Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into the pastry cream in three additions.
10
Transfer to a piping bag without a nozzle. Refrigerate until needed.
Vanilla whipped cream
Ingredients
- 300 g (10.6 oz) heavy cream
- 60 g (2.1 oz) mascarpone
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar (intentionally not too sweet to balance the meringue)
- 1 vanilla pod
Method
1
Place the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
2
Pour the cream and mascarpone into the chilled bowl and start whisking at medium speed, then increase the speed as the cream begins to stiffen. Check the consistency from time to time by stopping the mixer. The cream is ready when it holds its shape completely and does not fall when the bowl is inverted. Be careful not to over-whip, especially with mascarpone — it can turn into butter very quickly.
3
Add the icing sugar and vanilla seeds when the cream is almost fully whipped.
4
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a smooth 14 mm nozzle and refrigerate until assembly.
Exotic pavlova assembly
Ingredients
- a little white chocolate (to coat the meringue)
- 1 lime
Method
1
Using a fine-tooth grater or microplane, file down the tip of each pavlova dome so it can stand stably upside down.
2
Melt a little white chocolate and, using a pastry brush, coat the inside of each meringue shell. This prevents the meringue from going soft when it comes into contact with the cream. Place in the fridge for 5–10 minutes. Pipe in a small amount of diplomat cream. Press a pineapple sphere in, dome-side down, against the cream. Add a little more diplomat cream and smooth with a small offset spatula (run your finger around the edge of the pavlova to remove any excess cream).
3
Place a second pineapple sphere on top, dome-side up. I did not do this step for my first batch of pavlovas but did for subsequent ones and much preferred it — more pineapple, more fruit, it’s so much better!
4
Hold the pavlova in the palm of your hand and pipe small rounds of vanilla whipped cream all around the pineapple dome to start. Repeat until the pineapple is completely covered.
5
Zest a lime over the top and refrigerate until serving (allow a little time for the pineapple spheres to thaw).
Gallery
