This week’s dessert is a light and tropical flavoured Mango Passion Pavlova. This dish is great for impressing friends at your next dinner party or for any up coming special occasion. The freshness of the tropical fruit keeps this dessert super fresh and vibrant whilst still satisfying that sweet tooth. I highly recommend assembling the filling into the meringue just before serving, as the cream has a tendency to make the meringue soft and it may well collapse. I have shown you a realistic look of this dessert, as meringues have a huge likelihood of cracking, it can be very hard to avoid, so don’t be too surprised or disappointed if yours come out with a few unwanted cracks, it happens to the best of us.
Ingredients (makes 1 Pavlova, serves 4-6)
- 100g Egg white (approx three Eggs)
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Icing Sugar
- 250ml fresh double Cream
- 1 Tsp Vanilla
- Additional 30g Icing Sugar
- Zest 1 lime
- 1⁄2 Mango
- 2 fresh Passion fruits
Method
Begin by preparing the meringue. Preheat the oven to 90 degrees celsius and line a flat sheet tray with a piece of baking paper and set aside.
In the large bowl of a stand mixer add the Egg whites. (ensure that the bowl is free from grease).
Using a whisk attachment start to whisk the eggs on a medium speed until they become aerated and tun white, around 1 minute.
Increase the speed to high and slowly begin adding the caster sugar, one spoonful at a time, waiting a few seconds before each addition.
Once all of the caster sugar has been incorporated, leave the whisk running on high for a further two minutes.
You should have a super glossy and thick white meringue that can maintain stiff peaks.
Remove from the mixer and sift in the Icing sugar. Gently fold the Icing sugar into the meringue using a spatula, being careful not to deflate the meringue.
Spoon the meringue into a mound on the center of your prepared tray. Form it into a dome using an offset spatula.
Smooth around the sides of the dome to form a tall mound with smooth sides.
Using the tip of the pallet knife, gently run up the sides of the dome to produce a striped pattern as shown in the image, repeat this around the entire meringue for this complete look.
Place the meringue on a tray in the center of the oven and bake for 90 minutes. Refrain from opening the oven door to check on it as it bakes as this will encourage your pavlova to crack.
After the 90 minutes, turn off the oven and leave the meringue inside the oven with the door closed for at least half an hour before removing from the oven completely, again this is to prevent cracks.
Whilst the meringue cools to room temperature you can whip up your chantilly cream. In a large bowl combine the Cream, Vanilla and 30g of Icing Sugar. Whisk by hand or with a mixer until it forms soft peaks. Add in half of the Lime zest and fold through.
Prepare the Mango by removing the skin and slicing into small cubes (you can prepare your fruit however you like, this is just my preference). Spoon the Passion fruit seeds and juice and mix with the Mango.
Stir half of the fruit mix into the Cream and fold in until evenly distributed.
If the top of your meringue hasn’t naturally dropped down to form a cavity, then very carefully stab a circle in the top using a sharp paring knife and gently push down the top to form a large hollow cave for your cream filling to sit in.
just before serving, spoon in the Cream filling right to the top of the Pavlova and finish off with the remaining fruit and Lime zest as you like.
Serve Immediately to prevent the meringue becoming too soft.