Strawberry, Rose Petal and Pistachio Pavlova
This is a wonderful Middle Eastern inspired version of a classic from Down Under that is perfect for summer created by TV chef, Alex Hollywood using Sweet Eve strawberries and the freshest summer produce.
“Lashings of sweetened cream flavoured with a dash of rose water, loaded onto a huge sticky meringue round, filled with fresh halved Sweet Eve strawberries, topped with crushed pistachios and fragrant rose petals – it’s like summer on a plate!” she says.
INGREDIENTS
6 large egg whites
250g caster sugar
1 tsp rose water extract
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp corn flour
100g crushed pistachios
475ml double cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
450g Sweet Eve strawberries cut in half (keep 3-4 whole strawberries aside to garnish)
handful of pale pink rose petals
METHOD
Line a baking sheet and pre head the oven to 180c.
Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form, slowly add the sugar, rose water, winegar, corn flour and whisk again until the mix becomes very think and shiny.
Gently fold in half of the pistachios then carefully spoons the mixture onto the lined baking sheet, forming a circle and working the mixture outwards to form an edge and leaving a slight dip in the centre.
Drop the oven temperature to 150c and bake for 1 hour, then turn off the oven, leaving the meringue in there to cool. if you have time, make the meringue the night before, and leave it in the cooling oven overnight. The parchment should pull away easily now and you can place the meringues on a plate.
Whip the cream adding in the icing sugar and spread generously over the cooled meringue. Scatter the strawberries over the top, arrange the whole strawberries in the centre, sprinkle with the rest of the pistachios and finally scatter with the rose petals and serve.
