Rhubarb and custard mini pavlovas

Makes 15-18 Desserts and puddings

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Method

To make the meringues, preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/ Gas 3. Draw 9cm circles, spaced apart, on the underside of some sheets of non-stick baking paper. Place the sheets on a baking tray.

In a super-clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the sugar one tbsp at a time until glossy and thick. Don’t be tempted to rush this stage, otherwise the meringue will be gritty and frothy rather
than smooth and velvety. Add the cornflour, followed by the lemon juice and continue to whisk for a full 10 minutes.

Spoon into the circles and shape an indent on top of each one with the back of a spoon. Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave the meringues to cool and dry in the oven overnight.

To make the rhubarb, place the rhubarb, sugar, water and vanilla bean paste in a saucepan and simmer gently for around 5-10 minutes, until just soft.

When soft, remove the rhubarb with a slotted spoon and dry gently on kitchen paper.

Return the pan to the heat and keep simmering to reduce the remaining liquid to a thick syrup.

Purée half of the fruit with the syrup and then strain through a sieve. Transfer to a clean bowl and chill until needed.

To make the custard, slice the vanilla pod open lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and the pod in a heavy- based saucepan with the milk and bring slowly up to the boil.

Meanwhile, blend the egg yolks and 65g of the sugar in a bowl and then sieve in the flour and mix to a thick paste. Pour the just-boiling milk over the egg mixture, whisking constantly for around a minute. Return the mixture to the pan and bring to the boil, continuously whisking. Boil for a further 2 minutes.

Pass the custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and place a sheet of cling film on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool and then chill.

When you are ready to fill the pavlovas, whip the cream with the remaining sugar until softly whipped and then fold into the chilled custard.

To assemble the mini pavlovas, place a generous spoonful of custard cream onto each mini pavlova and top with 1tsp of rhubarb purée. Dress with the reserved steeped rhubarb batons and serve. These pavlovas are best eaten on the day they are made and are not suitable for freezing. Keep chilled until serving.

This recipe was taken from the May 2020 issue of Food and Travel.

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