Swirly pink meringues with Pomegranate syrup

In summer we tend to serve loads of Pavolova´s at the table because (one) it is delicious and (two) it is easy to make and gives you plenty time to enjoy with your family or guests!

This recipe is no different, easy to make well in advance and it is very pretty!  Do not feel intimidated making these pink swirls, they will look pretty no matter how imperfect you might think they look.

To juice pomegranates is not difficult, but I like to take shortcuts wherever possible without compromising the taste.  You can find 100% pomegranate juice from your local Middle-Eastern grocer and substitute 1 cup of juice for 3 x juiced pomegranates, or you can do it the long way – it is entirely up to you.

I also like to make a stabilised cream which keeps its texture way longer than normal whipping cream.  I added 50g of icing sugar to my cream but you can leave it out if you don’t like your desserts too sweet.  The best part is that you can store this in your fridge for up to 3 days ahead of time.

Feel free to bedazzle your meringues with as many pomegranate seeds you like and maybe some edible flowers as well.  This dessert serves to impress any guest!

Bon appetite!

You’ll need

  • • For the meringues
  • 6 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
  • 1 ½ tsp x cornflour
  • ½ tsp x dark pink or red food colouring
  • A pinch of fine salt
  • 320 g x sugar
  • • For the Pomegranate and orange blossom water syrup:
  • Juice of 3 fresh pomegranates (I usually buy 100% pomegranate juice and use 1 cup)
  • 1 ½ Tbsp x orange blossom water (substitute with 1 tsp orange zest if you can't find it)
  • ½ cup x sugar
  • • For the stabilised whipped cream
  • 350ml x whipping cream
  • 50g x icing sugar
  • 1 tsp x vanilla extract
  • 200g x cream cheese (Phyladelphia)
  • • To serve
  • 1 x pomegranate, seeds only

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 140° C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
  2. To make the meringues, whisk the egg whites and salt on a high-speed until frothy.
  3. Add the cornflour and sugar (1-2 tbsp at a time) gradually and continue whisking.
  4. When the egg whites form stiff peaks, gently fold in the red/pink food colouring, creating swirls.
  5. With two large slotted spoons, spoon the egg whites onto the parchment-lined baking tray.
  6. ‘Twirl’ your spoon around and finish off with a spiky peak.
  7. You can make either 4 large or 6 medium sized meringues.
  8. Bake for about 1 hour. Switch off the oven, and leave them to cool inside the oven with the door slightly open for 15 minutes.
  9. To make the syrup, place the juice of the 3 squeezed pomegranates or use 1 cup 100% pomegranate juice into a saucepan.
  10. Add orange blossom water and sugar. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer until thick and glossy. Leave to cool and set aside.
  11. (You need to be careful not to over reduce your syrup. As it cools down, it thickens a lot more!)
  12. To make the stabilised cream, place the cream cheese in your mixer and mix on a slow speed until smooth.
  13. Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated, using a spatula remove the cream cheese from the bowl and set aside.
  14. Add the whipping cream to the same bowl (no need to clean it) and mix until soft peaks form. (Be careful not to over-whip your cream!)
  15. Add the cream cheese mix to the cream in 2 batches until incorporated.
  16. At this stage I usually scoop the cream mixture into a piping bag and leave it in the fridge until serving time.
  17. To serve, I like to put a dollop of stabilised cream at the bottom of my serving dish and place the meringue on top to stop it from moving around on the dish.
  18. Swirl over stabilised cream, a drizzle of pomegranate syrup and scatter with pomegranate seeds.
  19. Serve immediately.

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