Raspberry or Apple Pavlova

24 Feb Raspberry or Apple Pavlova

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 250 g sugar
• 1 tsp Raspberry Vinegar or Apple Balsam Vinegar
• 1 tsp  corn starch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Fresh raspberries , black berries, raspberry jam or frozen raspberries
• 200 ml single cream
• 500 g quark

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 125°C/257°F/gas ½
2. Separate the eggs and put the egg whites in a large, clean bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk. Gradually whisk in the sugar. Adding the sugar slowly helps to build up volume in the meringue and make it stiff and shiny. The meringue is ready when you can turn the bowl upside down without the eggs sliding out.
3. Finally, fold in the Raspberry Vinegar, vanilla extract and cornflour until well combined, but be careful not to mix the air out of the meringue.
4. Spoon the meringue (or use a piping bag with a plain nozzle) onto the baking paper lined baking tray. Form about a Ø 26cm circle and shape with the back of a serving spoon or rubber spatula to create a large meringue nest, with soft peaks rising on all sides.
5. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 1 hour until very lightly coloured. Turn the oven off and leave the meringue to cool.

The meringue could be made a day in advance but it has to be completely cooled before put in an airtight container. The meringue would be ruined if it gets moist.

6. Whip the cream and then mix in the quark. Add the raspberries or what ever fruits or berries you want to use and mix in well. Use sugar or maple syrup to taste. The mixture should be a little tart because the meringue is already quite sweet.

If you use jam you could add a few tbsp of Raspberry Vinegar for example to make it not too sweet.

7. Spoon the mixture onto the meringue just before you serve it and garnish it with some berries and mint leaves or edible flowers.

For the apple version use the Apple Balsam Vinegar instead of the Raspberry Vinegar in the meringue. Core and dice some tart apples and marinate with a few tbsp Golden Balsam Vinegar and sprinkle with some cinnamon. Mix this in with the cream and quark mixture and add sugar to taste. Garnish with some thin apple slices.

Tip: Use the leftover egg yolks to make mayonnaise. Tip the egg yolks into a bowl and whisk together until completely combined. Whisking constantly, add the oil very slowly but constantly – be patient, as adding the oil too quickly will cause the mayonnaise to split and curdle. Whisk until the yolks and oil are completely combined and start to thicken and the colour is a little lighter and then add Raspberry Vinegar, salt and pepper.