12 Apr Pavlova with lemon-olive oil curd
- serves 8-10 -
A perfect late spring/early summer pudding, which plays on quintessential Italian
flavours. Unlike the traditional (and often overly sweet) pavlova, I prefer a tangy
yoghurt cream and velvety curd with just the slight background note of olive oil,
which chimes beautifully with the fragrant basil.
Decorate with your favourite edible flowers (such as jasmine) and strawberries, or
your favourite summer berries. I make double my usual pavlova recipe as it deserves
to be mighty and magnificent for a festa, but if you are making for a smaller more
subdued setting, by all means halve the recipe.
FOR THE PAVLOVA:
6 egg whites
350 g (12 oz/13/4 cups) sugar
zest of 3 lemons plus
1 tablespoon juice
10 g (2 teaspoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
FOR THE YOGHURT CREAM:
250 ml (8 fl oz/1 cup) double (heavy) cream
200 g (7 fl oz/scant 1 cup) Greek yoghurt
3 tablespoons icing (confectioner’s) sugar
FOR THE LEMON-OLIVE OIL CURD:
5 g (1 scant tablespoon) cornflour (cornstarch)
juice of 2 lemons
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
140 g (51/4 oz/2/3 cup) sugar
40 g (11/2 oz) butter
30 ml (2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt
TO FINISH (OPTIONAL):
200 g (7 oz) strawberries, halved
edible flowers
basil leaves
lemon zest squiggles
Preheat the oven to 130oC fan (150oC/300oF). Line a baking tray with baking
parchment.
Whisk the egg whites with the lemon juice until they form stiff, satin-like peaks. Add
the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking all the time. Once all of the sugar has been
incorporated and the meringue is once again in stiff and silky peaks, whisk in the
lemon zest and cornflour.
Spread the meringue out into a large circle on the lined baking tray, making the
edges a little higher than the middle to allow for the filling (I aim for pizza size, i.e.
about 25 cm/10 in). Bake in the oven for around 1 hour until crisp (gently check the
underside), then turn off the oven, open the door and leave to cool completely before
topping.
To make the yoghurt cream, whip the cream in a bowl until you have soft peaks, then
stir in the yoghurt and icing sugar.
To make the curd, whisk the cornflour into the lemon juice until dissolved, then pour
into a small saucepan, add all the remaining ingredients and place over a medium-
low heat. This will take around 10 minutes. Cook, whisking continuously, until it
becomes thick and velvety. Set aside to cool until ready to use.
To finish, spread the cream over the top of the pavlova and then dot over the curd.
Scatter over edible flowers, strawberries, basil leaves and lemon zest squiggles to
your liking, and serve.
