Pavlova with Plums and Passionfruit 💜

By Deborah Brett

Pavlova with Plums and Passionfruit 💜


Plum and Passionfruit Pavlova

I’ve been lucky enough to be one of food writer Skye McAlpine's friends and sit round her long wooden table and feast on the delicious dishes she conjures up in what seems like a second. 
 
With friends coming over for an elegant supper to celebrate the newly launched W.ICONS club I wanted to make a large sharing dessert and a pavlova  is something you can part make in advance and just assemble at the last minute. I plumped for Skye’s lemon curd pavlova but added the twist of her oven roasted fruit. 
 
One of my favourite suppers at Skye’s home, where I polished off her entire tray of olive oil roasted plums, it was all rather embarrassing but I just couldn’t help spooning more of the syrupy soft fruit onto my plate. 
 
With this in mind, I swapped out the usual berries, and added ripe plums instead. The plums are simply cut in half, de-stoned and placed cut side up in an oven tray. Then sprinkle with a tablespoon of light brown sugar, a dash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt flakes. Pop in an oven at 160C/350F and roast for 30 mins until soft but where the fruit is still intact.

RECIPE FOR THE MERINGUE 

8 large/ 240 grams egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
400 grams caster sugar
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

 

FOR THE LEMON FILLING AND ROASTED PLUMS

500 ml double cream

3 heaped tablespoons of lemon curd (shop bought is fine)
8-10 plums
A dash of olive oil
2 passion fruit
 
Preheat oven to 130°C /250°F and place rack in centre of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw two 8 inch circle on the paper.
Pour the vanilla and vinegar into a small cup. Stir the cornstarch into the sugar in a small bowl.

In a mixer, fitted with whisk attachment, whip egg whites and salt, starting on low, increasing slowly to medium speed until soft peaks start to become visible, and the egg white bubbles are very small and uniform, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
Increase speed to medium-high, slowly and gradually sprinkling in the sugar-cornstarch mixture. A few minutes after these dry ingredients are added, slowly pour in the vanilla and vinegar. Increase speed and whip until meringue is glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 4 to 5 minutes.

Gently spread the meringue inside the circles drawn on the parchment paper, smoothing the edges, making sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher than the center. (You want a slight well in the center of the meringue to place the whipped cream and fruit.)

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the outside is dry and takes on a very pale cream color. Check on meringues at least once during the baking time. If they appear to be taking on colour or cracking, reduce temperature 25 degrees, and turn tray around. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar, and let the meringue cool completely in the oven.
 
When you're ready to assemble, whip the cream with a hand mixer or whisk until it holds its shape. Be careful not to overwhip.
 
 When assembling the pavlova I layer home made lemon curd (benefits of having a Thermomix but using a good jar from the supermarket works just as well) with the whipped cream and a sprinkling of passion fruit. Then on the top layer of meringue the curd, cream add the roasted plums toppled one on top of the other and a final drizzle of passion fruit. Absolute heaven.



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