OLD PAVLOVA/NEW TRICKS: PHIL’S RECIPE

Phil Mutton was a shining beacon of inspiration as the senior pastry chef I worked with a looong time ago. He always had a Zen-like smile, a gentle educational quip to get one back on the pathway of pastry perfection and was kind in a cruel kitchen.

This recipe was the first time I added everything all in at the start of whipping egg whites. My approach up until meeting Phil had been resolutely French : whip whites, add sugar gradually. But this method makes the most delicately crisp shelled confections with maximum marshmallow-ey softness inside. The meringues are also a pale tawny pink - a colour so exquisite against berries or passionfruit - their natural partner in dessert. If you prefer a snowy white meringue, I’d look up a recipe like this.

I scoop the meringue with my just-washed-in-very-hot-water-clean-hands. Hit me up in the comments if you’d like me to make you a little video on the technique - it is the only way to get those romantic swoops on the tray.

MAKES 8

TAKES Around 3 hours until serving. I like to let them cool down overnight in the cooling down oven to really set the crust.

BAKE 60 minutes

KEEPS Room temperature for up to 7 days and as airtight as possible, especially in humid weather

BAKE at 120ºC fan forced

EQUIPMENT Stand mixer and shallow baking tray/sheet 

220 g egg whites (from around 7 eggs)

400 g caster sugar

8 g white wine vinegar (or cider vinegar or plain white vinegar)

5 g vanilla paste

100 g boiling water 

1. Line a shallow baking tray/sheet with cooking oil spray and baking paper. Heat your oven to 120ºC fan-forced

   Decide if you want tall and narrow meringues or flatter and wider ones. If opting for wide, line two trays. Ensure the tray is prayed heavily to keep the paper in place - flappy paper will lift up near the fan and make messy meringue sides. 

2. Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a heavy bowl if using handbeaters), adding the boiling water last so the time between the hot water and starting to whip is as swift as possible. If you see a little cloudiness from the hot water starting to cook some whites. Don't worry, continue…and fast! The boiling water starts to set the protein in the egg so the meringue stabilises quickly. If a meringue mix takes too long to heat up before baking it can collapse before it has a chance to bake. 

3. Place the bowl onto the stand mixer and whip on speed 8 (under high) for around 5 minutes until it is stiff but retains a soft swirl when you scoop a spoonful up. The mix must hold it’s shape when scooped on the tray.

4. Scoop cupfuls of the mix into proud meringue blobs on the tray with your hands. If the first scoops slumps as soon as it is scooped, scrape the mix off the tray and return to the bowl. Whip the mix another minute.

   It will be a tight fit to get them all onto the  40 cm x 30 cm tray (see how snuggly they are in the pic) but it will just work if the meringues aren’t too wide. If your oven has hot sides and everything you bake colours faster on the sides , you’d be best to divide the meringues between two trays.

5. Bake the meringues for around 60 minutes until a crisp crust has formed and they have the lightest blush.

6. Turn the oven off, prop the oven door open with a folded over kitchen towel and leave to cool for at least 60 minutes before removing to cool to room temperature.

7. When cooled, carefully peel the meringues away from the paper and top with obscene scoops of cream, nostril tingling passionfruit or ripe, summer warmed berries.

Recipe by ©Natalie Paull 2024 ©Beatrix Bakes 2024