This Christmas meringue or paulova with red fruits is one of the favorite desserts at home. I love to prepare it because it is easy, everyone likes it, it is accompanied by fruits and, best of all, I can prepare it before the day I want to serve it.
Although it is true that Christmas meringue or paulova with fruits is delicate with moisture, if we have dried it well, like this, there is no problem in leaving it overnight.
The base is a French meringue that is the easiest to prepare of all. As we are going to bake it, you do not need to make a syrup, as in the case of the Italian meringue, or cook it in a saucepan, as is the case with the Swiss meringue. So if you've never made meringue, this is the perfect recipe to get started with it. Started!
Ingredients
For the meringue
- 200g egg whites at room temperature
- 220 g sugar
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
For the cream
- 600ml liquid cream at least 33% fat
- 225g sugar if you like sweet and 175g if you prefer it something less sweet
- lots of red fruits
For the coulis of red fruits
- 300g red fruits (you can use fresh or frozen)
- 90 g sugar
- 60 g of water
- 1 g xanthan gum or gelatin powder (optional)
Directions
To make the pavlova preheat the oven to 140oC and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a glass or kitchen ring in the center so that we leave in the center a gap that will form the crown.
Rub a cut lemon around the inside of the bowl in let's hunge the meringue. This adds a little acid which on the one hand helps stabilize the meringue, and on the other it removes any residual fat that may have been left in the bowl.
Put egg whites in the bowl and with an electric mixer on medium speed beat the whites. When it starts to foam, start slowly adding the sugar, one tablespoon each time.
Continue whisking at medium speed until the meringue is stiff and shiny and forms strong peaks, so if we rub the meringue between the fingers and do not notice the sugar grains.
Add the cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla and mix for a couple of minutes to combine evenly.
Around the ring or the glass that we have put in the tray, we will deposit a generous tablespoons of meringue (about seven) and with the help of a small spatula or with the back of a spoon, we extend the merengue forming some discs that will shape the crown.
Bake for two hours at 140 degrees. this will cause the meringue to dry out and add crunchy to our paulova.
In the meantime, prepare the strawberry coulis. Start by scooping the water with the sugar. Boil until the sugar has completely dissolved. Crush the strawberries with a blender and with the help of a fine strainer, strain them to remove the nuggets. Add the strawberries to our syrup and mix well. Add half a gram of xanthan gum or gelatin powder if we want a thicker texture.
Once two preparations are completely cold, we will assemble the cream with the sugar until it forms soft peaks.
To assemble the paulova, we will put some coulis on the meringue and on top we will cover with the cream. We will finish with fresh red fruits and if we feel like a little more coulis.
Tips and Tricks
- It is best to prepare the meringue and coulis the day before, because for both preparations must be completely cold to be able to use them.
- Coulis can be a perfect meat sauce. Serve hot with cold meats or pork.
- Preparation time 2 hours and quarter
- Difficulty: easy
- Servings: 10
Español
English
Français