Very Cherry Pavlova

If I ask you what is one of the most summery desserts around, I would put money on you saying pavlova as one of them. A light, soft and chewy meringue with lashings of whipped cream, topped with loads of fresh fruit, what is not to love about that?!

Although the typical pavlova would usually have strawberries or something similar, I thought it would be good for a change! Cherries are such a lovely fruit and work so well in a pavlova too! But as with a lot of my recipes, I always encourage you to be creative and use fruit what you have at home or what is readily available to you. Any seasonal berry will work beautifully!

This recipe uses a Swiss meringue technique for the meringue. There are three methods to make meringue, French, Italian and Swiss. Although Swiss may seem a little more work, it is much more stable and you will achieve a chewier and whiter meringue.

Makes 8 individual pavlovas or one large pavlova.

Ingredients:

For the meringue:

250g Egg White

250g Caster Sugar

250g Icing Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

For the topping:

300g Double Cream

400g Cherries

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 100 degrees celsius (fan). Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw 8-10cm circles onto the paper to have some templates when shaping the meringue.

2. Place the egg whites and caster sugar into a clean bowl and put this bowl on top of a pan of boiling water. (also known as a bain marie)

3. Using a sugar thermometer, heat the eggs and sugar until 60 degrees. Making sure to whisk continuously. Once it has reached the temperature, using a hand held whisk or a free standing mixer with the whisk attachment, mix on full speed until it has cooled down to room temperature and is thick and glossy.

4. Once the meringue is at this stage, add in the icing sugar and vanilla and continue to mix until well incorporated and is stiff and shiny.

5. Using a large spoon or spatula, spoon the meringue onto the baking paper, using a spoon to shape into a round dome roughly to the size of the templates drawn. When you are happy with your shape, place into the oven for about 90 minutes until it has dried out and chewy in the middle. Turn the oven off and leave inside the oven until cool.

6. Using a whisk, whip the double cream to soft peaks. Spoon on top of the meringue and top with loads of cherries!