A delightfully lemony meringue dessert

Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 50 (active), 2 hours 35min (total) | Yields: 9” Layered Pavlova

Have you ever heard of a pavlova? It’s a meringue based dessert that is absolutely divine. I could eat plain meringue with a spoon; it’s so light, fluffy and tastes like you’re eating a cloud. BUT THEN when you BAKE the meringue… It becomes even MORE magical. It turns into an ultra soft and tender marshmallow-like cake. Think: edible memory foam (eh, maybe that’s not the most appetizing comparison… ignore me). Add some zing of lemon curd and you’ve got one hell of a summertime dessert.

This dessert is perfect for a summertime get-together. It’s perfectly light so it’s palatable for a hot summer day. Plus, it’s very impressive-looking, so you’ll be sure to wow everyone while you’re at it. Make it a summer bucket list activity to make a pav!

Ingredients:

For the pavlova:

8 egg whites
pinch of salt
8g cream of tartar
422g granulated sugar
31g cornstarch
6g vanilla extract

For the lemon curd filling:

8 egg yolks
Zest of 2 lemons (I used Meyer lemons)
Juice of 4 lemons
287g sugar
1g salt
24oz butter, room temp (I accidentally used too much butter but… I kinda like how it balances the tartness. Feel free to use half the amount if you want a more tart curd)

For the whipped cream:

500mL heavy whipping cream
25g powdered sugar

For garnish (optional):

berries
fresh mint

Directions:

Make the meringue:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour in the egg whites and the pinch of salt. Whisk on medium high until foamy.
Add in the cream of tartar and continue whisking on medium high until soft peaks form.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Pour in this sugar mixture into the egg whites one tablespoon at a time while the mixer is still going at medium high speed, leaving a few seconds in between each addition. Once you’ve added all of the sugar mixture, switch the mixer to high speed and whisk until the meringue is glossy with stiff peaks.
Line 3 baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat. Evenly distribute the meringue between the 3 pans and spread evenly into a 9” circle. I piped the meringue into a 9” pastry ring and then removed the pastry ring to create crisp circles for my layers, but you can also trace a 9” circle on the flip side of parchment paper and fill in the traced circle.
Place the meringue layers in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then turn the oven off, and place a wooden spoon in the door to crack the door, leaving the meringue layers inside. Let the meringue sit in the slightly opened oven for 30min to gradually cool, this helps them from cracking.
Remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack.

Make the lemon curd filling:

Pour 2” of water into a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
While the water is heating, whisk together the egg yolks, zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Place this bowl over the simmering water to create a bain marie (your bowl will have to be large enough not to fall into the sauce pan and not touch the water).
Whisk this mixture over the bain marie until it thickens to the consistency of hollandaise sauce, about 10 minutes. Make sure to constantly whisk so the egg yolks don’t curdle.
Remove from heat and add in the butter. Whisk until the butter is fully melted.
Place cling film over the hot curd and press the cling film into the surface of the curd so it doesn’t form a skin.
Place in the refrigerator to cool.

Make the whipped cream:

With an electric hand mixer, beat the whipped cream and the powdered sugar to stiff peaks. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Assemble the pavlova:

On a cake stand or cake tray, place the first layer of pavlova.
Spread on 1/3 of the whipped cream, and an even layer of lemon curd, to taste.
Place the second pavlova layer over top, another 1/3 of whipped cream and curd, then the last pav layer and (you guessed it) more lemon curd and the remaining whipped cream.
(Optional) Garnish with fresh fruit and mint.