Coconut and Lime Pavlova with Tropical Fruit

The rumour of warmer weather by the weekend has inspired me to think of summer foods and where better place to start than with a pavlova? Our hens are coming into full lay so we have plenty of eggs to use for the meringue. One of my favourite fruits is a papaya and, as luck would have it, I found some in the supermarket today hence my idea for a tropical fruit version of a pavlova. I’m making a lime curd to spread over the base of the cooked meringue, which I will then top with whipped cream and an assortment of tropical fruits. My mouth is watering just at the thought of it!

The Meringue Base:

The meringue for a pavlova should be soft and chewy with a crispy outside and this is achieved by the addition of cornflour and white wine vinegar after the sugar has been mixed in.

You will need:

the whites of 4 large eggs

250g of caster sugar

1½ teaspoons of cornflour

1½ teaspoons of white wine vinegar

25g of dessicated coconut

a few drops of coconut flavouring

Method:

preheat the oven to 150°C
line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and mark onto this a circle of about 10″ diameter
whisk the egg whites until they are stiff
add the caster sugar a little at a time until it is all mixed in, mixing well between each addition
blend the cornflour and white wine vinegar together and add this mixture to the meringue
lastly, fold in the dessicated coconut plus a drop or two of coconut flavouring
spread the meringue out onto the circle, making it higher at the sides than in the middle
bake the meringue for 1 hour then turn the oven off, open the oven door and leave the meringue in the oven to cool

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The Lime Curd:

For this you will need:

4 egg yolks

75g of caster sugar

50g of butter, cubed

the juice and rind of 2 or 3 limes (you will need 4 fl oz of juice)

measure the sugar into a heat proof bowl and add the grated lime rind
in a jug, whisk together the lime juice and egg yolks
pour the lime juice mixture onto the sugar and rind and sit this bowl on top of a pan of gently simmering water
add the butter to the bowl and stir everything together gently as it heats through

after about 20 minutes the curd will have thickened sufficiently, so remove it from the heat and put it to one side to cool

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Whilst the meringue and lime curd are cooling, prepare the fruit for the pavlova topping. You may of course use any fruit you wish, but I chose an assortment of tropical fruits – papaya, mango, passion fruit, orange, banana and kiwi fruit. You could also use a bit of poetic licence and add a few red grapes for colour!

When both the meringue and lime curd are completely cold it is time to assemble the pavlova:

spread enough lime curd onto the base of the meringue to cover it

whip the cream to soft peaks (if you wish you could fold a little bit of finely chopped stem ginger in to the cream for an extra zing!)
pile the cream on top of the lime curd and then add your chosen fruits to the top of this