Before I get started, if you are one of life’s passionfruit phobics, retching at the thought of their frogspawn like appearance, then navigate away from this post now, and do not scroll down. You are of course, missing out on what I consider to be one of the most delicious fruits ever, but your phobia is my second helping, so , like I say, you should look away now.
Last night Mr Mummyinahurry and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We were due to go out for dinner, but a chest infection and a week of sleep deprivation (courtesy of the children) meant we had to postpone.
I have yet to find a local takeaway near our current home that lives up to expectations, and quite frankly, by the time I have waited an hour for a usually disappointing lukewarm meal to arrive, I am over it.
So dinner was steak and chips, followed by passionfruit pav. While hubby was doing the bedtime stories I made the Pavlova. It is one of my favourite desserts. Embarrassingly easy, and always received by guests with the kind of oohs and aahs you might expect from something that takes a lot more effort.
I tend to take a slightly rough and ready approach. I weigh the egg whites (last night I used 3) then weigh an equivalent amount of caster sugar, and add a dessert spoon or two more for luck. Obviously change the quantities depending on the volume you want to make. For a large pav I would probably use 6-8 egg whites.
Put the oven on at about 150 degrees Celsius.
Whisk the egg whites either with a hand-held electric whisk, or with a mixer using the whisk attachment. Once they have increased in size to about 4 times the original volume, check to see if they are at the firm peak stage (if you tip the bowl up they should stay put). Add a little of the sugar to start then beat in the rest. Continue whisking for 5 minutes or so. The mixture should be gloriously silky and smooth. Rub a little between your thumb and finger to see if it feels grainy. If its smooth, you are done.
Now you get to choose how to arrange the mixture. Sometimes I spread it out on a pre-cut circle of greaseproof paper set on a baking tray. Last night I was feeling lazy so it went straight in to my silicone tray bake pan which I had lightly oiled with sunflower oil.
Cook for about 1 hour.
For the filling I whisked 300mls double cream until it got to the soft peak stage. Then I folded in about 250mls of thick greek yoghurt, which is deliciously creamy but is a great foil to the richness (and calorie density) of the cream.
Once the meringue had cooled I placed it on the serving plate, and slathered the creamy yoghurt mixture on top. Finally drizzle with the flesh of 4 passionfruit. I scooped them out straight on to the cream.
This might sound a little effort intensive, but honestly, the actual work part of it was less than ten minutes.
And like the title suggests, what’s not to love?!!
RECIPE SUMMARY
3 egg whites (these were medium so weighed about 110g)
Equivalent weight in sugar, plus a spoon or so extra, for good measure
300ml cream
250ml greek yoghurt
4 passionfruit
VARIATIONS
If I am topping a Pavlova with raspberries, I often put the zest of a half lemon into the cream mixture. I tend to taste as I add it. I have on occasion added too much and it can be a bit overpowering. On the whole I find that the lemon is a great contrast and gives the dish a real lift.
TIP
Egg whites freeze fantastically well. If you have a recipe that leave you with left over whites, or if your eggs are about to reach their use by date and you dont have time to use them, then at least freeze the whites. They have lasted for months in my freezer, then still revive after defrosting to make a fabulous Pavlova.
Passionfruit Pavlova. What's not to love?
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