Christmas Pavlova Wreath

Christmas Pavlova Wreath

Serves
Cooking time 1h

Nothing says ‘Aussie Christmas’ more than a pavlova. This beauty is decadently paired with a rich raspberry sauce and an abundance of fresh berries – perfect for a Christmas feast on a hot summer’s day.

Ingredients

6extra-large egg whites, (from 60 g eggs) at room temperature

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups(330 g) caster sugar

1 Tbspcornflour

1 tspwhite vinegar

1 tspvanilla extract

Raspberry sauce

1 1/2 punnets(125g) Driscoll's raspberries

1/4 cup(55g) sugar

2 Tbspbrandy (substitute orange juice, if desired)

Topping

300 mlthickened cream

1/2 tspground cinnamon

1/4 tspmixed spice

250 gDriscoll's strawberries, hulled and halved

125 gDriscoll's blueberries

60 g(1/2 punnet) Driscoll's raspberries

Method

  1. Preparation

    Preheat the oven to 150 °C. Lightly grease a large baking tray.

  2. Cookie sheet

    Grease a large cookie sheet. Draw a 23 cm disc on a piece of baking. Draw a smaller roughly 13 cm circle in the centre to create a ring. Place the baking paper, marked side down on the prepared tray.

  3. Meringue

    Whisk the egg whites and salt together in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously until all the sugar is added. Whisk on high speed for 3–5 minutes, until stiff and glossy and the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk to combine. Using a large spoon, arrange large dollops of meringue, side by side, inside the ring. Create another layer of smaller dollops on top of the ring.

  4. Baking

    Place the pavlova in the oven and decrease the temperature to 120 °C. Bake for 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hours, until crisp on the outside and light golden. Turn the oven off and leave in the oven with the door ajar, for 4 hours, or overnight until cooled completely.

  5. Sauce

    To make the raspberry sauce, place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until the raspberries are pulpy. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Set aside to cool.

  6. Serving

    To decorate, whisk the cream, cinnamon and mixed spice together in a medium bowl, until stiff peaks form. Spread the cream over the top of the pavlova ring. Drizzle with half of the raspberry sauce. Decorate with berries and drizzle with the remaining sauce.