Lemon Meringue Pavlovas

Remember that Lemon Curd?  It's the filling in this dessert.

Have you ever eaten a Pavlova?  It's generally accepted that this dessert was invented when a famous Russian ballerina named Anna Pavlova visited New Zealand on a worldwide tour in the late 1920's, (although Australia claims it was invented in their country). It's basically a meringue base with whipped cream and fresh fruit on top.  The filling is put in a day or so early to give it time to soak into the meringue.  The Pavlova is soft and "pillow-y" when served instead of crunchy.  It's a little piece of heaven in my book.

Quite a few years ago, I had to serve luncheon to a very  large group of church women and I was given a tight budge to work with. What dessert do you serve to 90 women when you're on a budget?
It was Easter and eggs were on sale in all of the markets so I decided to make Pavlova.  But Pavlova only uses egg whites and you have egg yolks left over.  With 90 servings, I had A LOT of yolks left over, and what would I do with that many yolks?  So I made lemon curd and made it into a mousse with a smaller amount of whipping cream folded into the curd.

 I stretched that budget quite a bit farther because I needed less whipped cream to fill the meringues.  They turned out delicious!  I served them with a berry sauce made with frozen berries because fresh fruit wasn't in my budget.  I had many, many requests for the recipe.

I made these for a dinner party last week and topped them with fresh berries.  I layered the cream and curd rather than folding it together.  Either technique works and both the sauce or the fresh fruit are equally delicious.
You can also pipe the meringue into one big circle and cut individual wedges but I like to make personal meringues.  The components can be done ahead of time too, which makes these perfect for a crowd.

I think Ms. Pavlova would approve.

  Pipe one circle like this...And then pipe one circle around the outside of this circle to make a cup.

 After baking.

 These meringues can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks.

Personal Lemon Meringue Pavlovas with Berry Sauce

                                                                  

                                                                             Bonnie Barker

Meringues:

6 egg whites

Pinch of cream of tartar

1 1/4 cups of white sugar

Preheat oven to 250° F.  
     Whip egg whites on high speed until foamy.  Add cream of tartar and mix well.  Add sugar, 1 Tab. at a time (if you add the sugar to quickly, the weight of it will deflate your meringue).  Once the sugar is incorporated, continue to whip until the egg whites are shiny and hold a very stiff peak.

     Place the meringue in a pastry bag and pipe eight 4 inch circles (I piped 3 1/4 inch).  I draw the circles upside down on parchment paper and then turn it over and pipe the meringues.  

     Bake for 1-2 hours until the meringues are dry and crunchy.  Turn the oven off and let them cool in the oven.

 

Makes 8 4-inch meringues

Lemon Curd:

2 cups sugar

12 eggs yolks

 1 cup lemon juice

 2 tablespoons lemon zest

½ cup(1 stick) butter, cut in pieces

½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

Wash and zest lemons.  Extract lemon juice.  In a heavy-bottomed, non aluminum pan, stir egg yolks with sugar. Whisk in lemon juice.  Cook on medium-low heat until mixture coats the back of a spoon.  Remove from heat and whisk in butter.  Strain through a chinois.  Add lemon zest. 
Cover surface with plastic wrap. 
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 
Can be kept in fridge up to 3 weeks. 

This curd is great to spoon over angel food cake, pound cake, or scones.  Experiment with combinations of fresh citrus juice for variety (do not use bottled lemon juice).  It will keep for up to a week in your refrigerator.

*To make this into the Mousse you will use for the desert you will need:

 1 c. heavy whipping cream

Whip the cream until it is very stiff.  Take about 1/3 cup of cream and carefully fold it into the curd.  Add this to the cream and fold in to lighten the mixture.  Now fold the rest of the cream into the lemon curd being careful not to stir and deflate the cream.

Mixed berry sauce:

1 Tab. butter

3 c. berries

1/2 C. sugar

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (I grate my own but powdered is fine)

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

     Heat the butter in a large pan until bubbling.  Add the berries and sauté" until they start to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add sugar and juice and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes.  Add spices and mix.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Refrigerate.

To assemble:

Place a small dab of curd on the bottom of the meringue to stick it to the bottom of the plate.  It will slide around the plate if you don't. 

Spoon lemon curd into the meringue and drizzle berry sauce over. 

You may want to spoon a small scoop of whipped cream on top and garnish the whole thing with some fresh berries.

You can also pipe one large circle of meringue and cut it into wedges to serve.