Preparation Time : 40 minutes
Cooking Time : 1 hour + cooling time 2 hours
Serving : 10 members
Description
Meringue with fresh fruits and musk melon sauce . The initial days of watching master chef Australia where I got to here about pavlova . Having no sense of google or access to Internet , used to wonder what pavlova was ??? All I could see and guess was a mass of white, airy , light , crisp crusted sweet thing eaten and devoured by the judges in master chef Australia . I came across a recipe in one foodie magazine where there was a recipe for meringue and it was mentioned that pavlova’s are meringue based desserts and a national dish to Australia and New Zealand where they serve it for their festive and holidays seasons mostly during summer with fruits . Now the next question in mind what’s meringue ??? Well to just put of the craving and greed in me to know what pavlova or meringue tastes like , I had to give this dessert a try . Started , didn’t have many ingredients that the original recipe demanded but made changes with availability of my pantry and went ahead . Served to all at home and waited for comments . No comments at all for the first 2 minutes .. All busy digging into the dessert . I had my first spoon full and I was like hey this tastes like the macaroons we get in Tuticorin . The great Pavlova and meringue that haunted my mind for so very long was just the usual Tuticorin macaroons that i have in my store room always to entertain sudden guests . The most exotic thing was finally some thing that I have at home always , laughed to myself silently thinking how dum I am :-)) .
Ingredients for meringue
Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Egg whites | 6 |
| Salt | a pinch |
| Sugar | 150 grams |
| Icing sugar | 150 grams |
| Corn flour | 1 teaspoon |
| Vinegar | 1 teaspoon |
| Vanilla essence | 1 1/2 teaspoon |
Fruits : peel , stone and chop to serve as you wish.
Kiwi 2
Apple 1
Mangoes 1
Musk melon 1/4
Can use any other fruit of the season instead.
Ingredients for Melon sauce
Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Musk melon | 1/4 peeled , stoned and chopped |
| Thick cream | 300 ml |
| Icing sugar | 20 grams or to taste |
Method for Meringue
- Preheat oven to 140 degree Celsius . Line a large baking tray with non – stick baking paper ( can use foil paper instead ) . Whip the egg whites , salt and sugar together with the help of an electric egg beater until stiff peaks are formed .
- Sift in the icing sugar and cornflour , continue to whisk for 3 to 4 minutes . The mixture must be stiff and has to have a shine to it . Finally add vinegar and vanilla essence .
- Spoon the meringue mixture on the lined baking tray , making a big , deep , shallow dent in the middle with higher than the centre walls all around to hold the fruits inside . Bake for one hour until set .
- Be careful with the colour as it has to remain white . Switch of oven , open the oven door and leave the cooked meringue to cool for one hour . Remove and cool completely .
Method for musk melon sauce
- Whip the cream to stiff . Blend musk melon and icing sugar to a smooth and runny . ( do not add water ) mix the whipped cream along with the musk melon juice .
- Set aside in the refrigerator .
To assemble
- Assemble just before serving . Pile the cut fruits mixture into the shallow dent of the meringue in the centre .
- Drizzle the musk melon sauce and serve immediately .
Notes
- Make sure the meringue is white in colour and does not crack . ( mine cracked and got a light brown colour as well .. Bad day I guess )
- You can make the meringue a day before ( that’s what I did ) . Store in air tight container with the base sprinkled with corn flour , place the meringue and top with tissue paper . Then close with the air tight container lid and store .
- Chopped fruits can be dipped into sugar syrup to avoid discolouring of the fruits .
- Assemble the meringue together just before serving .
