Jelly & Cream Pavlova

Remember strawberry jelly topped with whipped cream back from school lunches, try it again with this modern interpretation. A pink marble pavlova topped with cubes of strawberry jelly, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. The recipe is modelled to look like a ballerina’s dress, after the origins of the dish; a tribute to Anna Pavlova, the 1920s Russian ballerina. It’s a really fun take on the classic pavlova which’ll have you back in the dinner queue at first bite! Oh also its best if you can make it the evening before and let the meringue set overnight.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 1hr (plus rest)

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients

Berry Jelly (You can use a packet jelly instead)

  • Frozen Strawberries / raspberries - 200g

  • Sugar - 50g

  • Gelatin Sheets - 2

Pavlova

  • Egg Whites - 4

  • Caster Sugar - 230g

  • Food Colouring (Pink / Red) - few drops

  • Whipped Double Cream - to serve

  • Strawberries - to serve

Method

Pavlova Step One - Berry Jelly

Blend the frozen berry pieces and add to a pan with the 50g of sugar, and add 75g of water. Bring to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then transfer to a bowl to cool.

Place the gelatin sheets in water to soak for 5 minutes, Scoop them out and add to a pan with just enough water to cover them. Heat on low and keep stirring until the gelatin is fully dissolved.

Stir the gelatin liquid into the berry liquid until fully incorporated.

Place in a small container to set (the liquid needs to be high enough in the container that you can cut cubes out of ti later).

Place in the fridge for a few hours to set.

 

Pavlova Step Two - MERINGUE Stage 1

Place the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl.

Mix on a low speed for 2 minutes until the whites become bubbly.

 

Pavlova Step THree - MERINGUE Stage 2

Turn up the speed to medium and mix for another minute, then up to high.

Keep mixing until you have stiff peaks form when you pull the mixer out. Careful not to over-mix at this stage, as you’ll destroy the bubbles you’ve been carefully creating.

 

Pavlova Step Four - MERINGUE Stage 3

Keep the mixer on high whilst you add the sugar a tablespoon at a time.until it’s all incorporated - you can do this fairly quickly.

 

Pavlova Step Five - Pink Ripple

using a skewer, gently stir in the food colouring a little at a time until you have your desired colour and a marble effect.

 

Pavlova Step Six - BALLERINA Dress

Shaping.jpg

Preheat the oven to 150°C (302°F).

Gently spoon the meringue mixture onto a tray lined with baking paper. Using a spoon or spatula, shape the meringue into a shape that resembles a ballerina’s dress.

Note: The reason we’re doing this shape is a nod to the original recipe for pavlova; created in New Zealand (although the Australian’s fiercely contest that it was actually them who created it) as a tribute to the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who was touring there at the time - the idea of the pavlova recipe is that it’s ‘lighter than air’.

Turn the oven down to 140°C (284°F), and place the meringue in the oven for 1 hour. Once cooked, without opening the oven door, turn off the heat off and allow the meringue to cool slowly with the oven (this’ll prevent cracking).

 

Pavlova Step Seven - JELLY & Cream Pavlova

Jelly & Cream Meringue.jpg

Once the pavlova’s cooled, cut the jelly into cubes and whip the double cream.

Top the pavlova with the cream, jelly cubes, and fresh strawberries.

And that’s in, hope you enjoy!