Novelty Pavlova

I'm having a serious case of PJD today - Post Jubilee Depression.  However, every cloud has a silver lining, as there is still plenty of our Jubilee pavlova leftovers in the fridge.  As I was meticulously nestling each union jack berry into the cream, a thought struck me that pavlova is the perfect dessert for any (remotely novelty) occasion - from drawing birthday balloons, flowers, text and even the odd cheeky phallic symbol, the world's your oyster when it comes to pavlova creativity - so I thought I'd share this easy peasy recipe!  This particular recipe is from Mary Berry - it was tried and tested yesterday and turned out beautifully!

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 250g caster sugar
• whipping cream or double cream
• berries of your choice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120 °C.
2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean large bowl, with an electric whisk, until the whites are stiff enough to stay in the bowl when it is turned upside down - a risky test!
3. Keep whisking, while adding the caster sugar one teaspoonful at a time.  Continue mixing until all of the caster sugar has been added gradually, and the mixture looks stiff and shiny.
4. Cover a baking tray in baking parchment or grease proof paper and spread the meringue mixture evenly into whatever shape you fancy.
5. All ovens vary, so baking time cannot be exact, but usually the meringue will take between 1 hour and 1 1/2 hours to bake fully.  When the meringue is cooked, it can be lifted easily from the parchment.  Leave the meringue in the oven once it has been turned off to allow it to cool down gradually.
6. Whip the whipping or double cream in a bowl until thick and spread over the meringue base.
7. Place the berries onto the cream either in a shape or randomly and tuck in!!

When the birthday cake is finished...

A birthday weekend full of Colin the Caterpillar cake is bound to make my already extremely sweet tooth, even sweeter.  In the aftermath of Colin's face consumption, I neared a sugar low and obviously my thoughts turned to quick and easy desserts.  I thought I'd share one of my favourites with you.  Served at London's prestigious Ivy restaurant, this is the easiest dessert EVER and is delicious, both for an emergency pudding fix and for dinner party occassions.  Here it is folks: Frozen Berries with Hot White Chocolate (the clue's in the name).

Ingredients:

• 2 half-pints fresh raspberries
• 2 half-pints fresh blueberries
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thick
• 1 cup of cream
• 10 ounces good white chocolate (not chips), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1. You can either spread the berries on a sheet pan in a single layer early in the day and place them in the freezer.  Once they’re frozen, store them in a freezer bag.  
2. OR you can cheat (like we always do) and just buy frozen fruit from the supermarket.  It's way less hassle and they can be stored so they're ready for when you most need them!
3. In a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, heat the cream, white chocolate and vanilla just until the chocolate melts. Don’t let the bowl touch the water and heat the mixture until it’s warm to the touch.
4. Put the frozen berries in little pudding dishes and allow to defrost a little (for about 10 minutes.)  Pour the hot white chocolate evenly over the frozen berries and DIG IN!

The mixture of hot and cold will blow your mind!  It only takes about 15 minutes and is AMAZING so give it a go and let me know if you love it as much as I do!