Individual Passionfruit Pavlovas

Passionfruit pavlovas: slightly crunchy exterior and marshmallowy soft inner, paired with smooth, tangy but sweet passionfruit curd and whipped cream.  Jump to Recipe 

IT’S OVER!!!

Yesterday’s mid-semester exam is what I am referring to here. Minimal study (and lots of baking) over the Easter break resulted in a final mad 4-day cram – stressful, boring, and not conducive to blog-posting, unfortunately. The feeling of freedom and relief walking out of that exam room was priceless – until we have to do it all again in 6 weeks time, that is.


Of course, I always tell myself afterwards that next time I will be more onto it, better prepared, know more of the detail, etc etc. You get the picture. In reality, I find that life catches up with me: I spend more than enough time just trying to keep on top of lecture summaries, and would far rather spend my Sunday out brunching and writing a blog post than at my desk revising. I can always hope, I suppose!

Back to why you are here in the first place: individual passionfruit pavlovas. It is all about texture. The slightly crunchy outer and soft, marshmallow-like inside of the meringue, paired with lusciously smooth, tangy but sweet passionfruit curd, whipped cream, and extra passionfruit and finally dusted with icing sugar is an absolute dream. All credit goes to The Engine Room (phenomenal restaurant in Auckland, please visit) for the recipe.

Passionfruit has got to be one of my favourite fruits, and this passionfruit curd is to-die-for – any left over will be gone very quickly: think spooned over ice cream, slathered on toast, heck, by the spoonful!

This is one of my go-to autumn desserts to wow family and friends (and what I would love to be eating to celebrate tonight!). It can be completely made ahead so is also perfect for a dinner party, just needing assembly on the night. Don’t be scared by the pavlova component – making individual ones is much easier (plus it looks amazing) and this recipe is pretty foolproof. You will need to make them the night before, turn off the oven and leave them inside to cool down slowly overnight. The curd is also straightforward as long as you  keep a close eye on it and stirring continuously once you have it thickening on the heat – you do not want a moments distraction to result in a clumpy curdled mixture.

ALSO big news: I have two weeks (mostly) off uni starting from next week (!!). SO excited – even the couple of assignments I have to get done can’t dampen it. Very much looking forward to doing a bit of shopping, some more Melbourne exploring, and a whole lot of eating. Dad is also coming over to visit in the last weekend. Cannot. Wait. Although I have a bit of a list going, please let me know any particular must-visit places to go – love a bit of inside knowledge!

For the moment, make these pavlovas while passionfruit is still around – enjoy.

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Individual Passionfruit Pavlovas

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr 30 mins

 

(Barely) adapted from The Engine Room Cookbook The pavlovas need to be made the night before.

Course: Dessert

Servings: 6 -8

Author: Claudia Brick

Ingredients

• 4 large egg whites at room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 250 g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornflour
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Passionfruit Curd

• 3/4 cup (or 200ml) fresh passionfruit pulp
• 3/4 cup caster sugar (or a tablespoon more/less depending on how sweet your passionfruit is)
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 100 g butter , cubed

To serve

• 200 ml cream , whipped to soft peaks
• icing sugar to dust
• fresh passionfruit pulp (allow half a passionfruit per person)

Instructions

1. Pavlova!
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
3. In a cake mixer or with a hand whisk, whisk the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.
4. With the whisk going, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the meringue is thick and shiny.
5. Sift over the cornflour and add the vinegar and vanilla, folding in gently.
6. Spoon big dollops of mixture onto the trays: I usually make 6-8 meringues.
7. Place in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 150°.
8. Bake for 20 minutes then turn the oven off. Don't be tempted to look inside! Leave to cool overnight. The next morning, transfer the pavlovas to an airtight plastic container.

Passionfruit Curd

1. In a food processor, pulse the passionfruit pulp to break it up the yellow fibrous bits without splitting the seeds.
2. Strain the pulp through a fine sieve in a medium sized bowl. Use the back of a spoon to really press the pulp into the sieve to get out as much liquid as you can, and you may want to leave it to drain for 10 minutes to let it drip.
3. Stir in the sugar, then taste and add a bit extra if the pulp is too sour. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Fill a larger bowl with iced water in preparation for the next step.
5. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water) and add the cubed butter. Stir the mixture continuously, scraping round the sides and bottom of the bowl, until it starts to thicken (10-15 minutes).
6. As soon it has thickened, place the bottom of the bowl into the bowl of iced water, and stir occasionally until cooled.
7. Transfer to an airtight container or jar and refrigerate (will keep for a couple of weeks).

Assembly

1. Place each pavlova on a plate. Dollop the pavlovas with whipped cream, passionfruit curd, passionfruit pulp, and a dusting of icing sugar to serve.