Adam Liaw’s cherry and almond pavlova
I only make pavlova with icing sugar now, as it’s foolproof. The icing sugar dissolves more easily than caster sugar, which helps to stabilise the meringue.
Ingredients
4 egg whites
300g icing sugar
1 tsp cornflour*
¼ tsp cream of tartar
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup sliced almonds
mint leaves, to garnish
Cherry topping
250g pitted cherries
250g whole cherries
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
pinch of ground cinnamon
Method
Step 1
Heat your oven to 110C fan-forced (110C also for conventional ovens). Add the egg whites, icing sugar, cornflour, cream of tartar and a pinch of salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to a glossy, stiff meringue.
Step 2
Lay a piece of baking paper onto a baking tray and spread the meringue onto the baking paper in a 20cm circle. (If you keep adding meringue to the centre and pushing it down it will form an attractive natural edge to the pavlova.) Bake the pavlova for 90 minutes then turn off the oven, wedging the door open very slightly with a wooden spoon and allowing the pavlova to cool for 2 hours. Remove from the oven to cool further.
Step 3
Whisk the cream with the vanilla in a stand mixer until it forms soft peaks, then refrigerate until ready to use. Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Place the pitted cherries, honey, sherry vinegar and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well. Allow to macerate in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Step 4
Spread the top of the pavlova with the cream. Stir the unpitted cherries through the macerated cherries, then alternate spoons of the mixed cherries and almond slices on top of the cream. Garnish with mint leaves.
*check gluten-free if required
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Adam Liaw is a cookbook author and food writer, co-host of Good Food Kitchen and former MasterChef winner.
