Summer Berry Pavlova

Remember last weekend when it was summer? (temporarily) We had a lovely bbq over at our fab friends’ house – they were ‘doing’ the meat, so we said we’d bring something lovely for pudding.

What screams summer bbq more than pavlova? Loads of beautiful seasonal strawbs and raspberries loaded on a fluffy meringue base. Happy days!

My Middle Little loves a bit of baking, and so asked to make this for me. Why not? Love having a helper! It was so simple, the only job Middle needed help with was separating the egg whites from the yolks. Bonus was that measuring and weighing was also part of this week’s homework – serious mum points!!

We used this recipe from Jamie Oliver and as always made a few tweaks to suit the store cupboard. I’m a bit sloppy when it comes to presentation so it doesn’t look quite as polished!!

Ingredients

• 6 large free-range egg whites 
• 300 g caster sugar
• 400 g fresh strawberries and raspberries 
• 200 ml double cream 
• 200 ml fat-free natural yoghurt 
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar 
• 1 vanilla pod

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas 2. Clean your mixing bowl with lemon juice and wipe away the residue. (This helps your egg whites to fluff up!). Put your egg whites in your mixing bowl and whisk them at a medium speed until they start to form nice firm peaks. (Mines 6/7 on the Kitchenaid).
2. With your mixer still running, gradually add the sugar, spoon by spoon. Turn the mixer up to the highest setting and whisk for 7 to 8 minutes more until the meringue is white, glossy and smooth. If it feels grainy, whisk for a little bit longer, being careful not to let the meringue collapse. 
3. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Plop most of the mixture on one sheet and smooth roughly to about 20cm in diameter. Use the other sheet and dollop tea spoons of the remaining mixture to create meringue drops for the top of the pavlova.
4. Put both trays into the oven and bake for about 1 hour until the meringues look slightly golden and are fluffy in the middle. When they’re ready, open the oven door and leave in the oven to cool for an hour or so.
5. Halve or quarter the large strawberries and leave the smaller ones whole. Mix them with the raspberries. 
6. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.
7. Spoon the cream mixture on top of one of the meringue halves and roughly smooth it out. Place the other meringues on top and press down gently to stick them together. Sprinkle half of your berries evenly around the cream mixture.
8. Spread the remaining cream mixture over the top layer and sprinkle the remaining berries on top. Enjoy!

Happy bbq-ing lovely people!

Tahlia x