Lazy Sunday: Honey Roasted Nectarine, Macerated Berry & Pistachio Pavlova

This Sunday we are whipping up a storm in the kitchen with the gorgeous Hope Cameron-Webb, professional Pastry Chef by day and foodie blogger at Add More Butter by night. Hope shares her recipe for a deliciously fruity dessert – Honey Roasted Nectarine, Macerated Berry & Pistachio Pavlova.

“My ideal Sunday would be to spend the morning lovingly baking a beautiful cake, then spend the evening lazing outside as the sun sets with my family, friends and my treasured piece of cake. Food is an amazing conveyor for texture, flavour and, most of all, evoking emotion and memories. If you’re a foodie at heart or just a sporadic baker, visit my blog - I’m sure you’ll find something that floats your boat.

Here I share a recipe to celebrate the Bank Holiday weekend - sticky sweet meringue enrobed in soft whipped cream and fresh berries – indulge this Lazy Sunday with this pretty in pink Pavlova.”

Ingredients – serves 8 large portions
▪200g egg white (approx. 7 large egg whites)
▪400g caster sugar (plus 45g for double cream)
▪450g double cream
▪100g pistachios
▪3 ripe nectarines
▪3 tbsp. honey
▪A handful each of: raspberries, pitted cherries and strawberries
▪1 tbsp. Cointreau
▪2 tbsp. icing sugar
▪squeeze of lemon juice

Method Meringue
▪Pre-heat the oven to 140C/ 120C fan/gas 1 and line two baking trays with baking paper. Roughly draw an 8 inch circle on each piece of paper and turn over so that the pencil side is down.

▪Take an electric mixer bowl and pour in your egg whites. It’s very important that the bowl is bone dry and has no grease inside. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and begin to whisk the egg whites. Mix on high for 3-4 minutes until stiff. Start adding in the sugar gradually while the mixer is still whisking the whites. Wait a few seconds after each addition so that the sugar can incorporate before the next.

▪Once all of the sugar is added, continue to whisk on high-speed until the meringue is thick and glossy (about 5 minutes.) Take a small amount of meringue on your fingertip and place a dot on each corner of the baking trays to secure the paper down. Now take a spatula and divide the meringue onto each tray equally. Push the meringue out to make a mounded circle. Bake for 1 hour and remove from the oven. Leave to cool completely.

Preparing the fruit
▪To roast the pistachios: place on a baking tray and roast at 160C for approx. 5 minutes. Once cool, roughly chop the pistachios ready for assembling.

▪To roast the Nectarines: Place quartered pieces of nectarine on a baking tray and drizzle with honey. Roast at 160C for approx. 10 minutes, drizzling more honey as needed. Leave to cool for assembling.

▪To macerate the strawberries: Place quartered pieces of strawberry into a bowl and add in the icing sugar, Cointreau and lemon juice. Mix this until the sugar has dissolved. Cover and leave to macerate for no longer than 1 1/2 hours.

▪Remove the stone from the cherries and leave the raspberries whole.

Assembling
▪Place the double cream and 45g of caster sugar into a bowl and whisk to soft peaks.

▪Place one of the meringue discs onto the serving plate and smooth over half of the whipped cream. Layer a variety of the prepared fruit and nuts over the top, leaving over half of them for the top.

▪Next, put the second meringue disk on top of the fruit/cream. Finish with the rest of the whipped cream and arrange the leftover fruit and nuts on top. Dust with icing sugar if desired.