I am now officially feeling festive my local town had there Christmas Gala on Friday night, so I took the kids along and am a little poorer as a consequence! Candy floss, hot roasted chestnuts, warm mince pies and a number of trashy rides! I did however manage a cheeky mulled wine and the kids even got to stroke the reindeer….Happy days.
As we got the Christmas tree ready to decorate yesterday afternoon (yes I know its early but I am away next weekend) we had an epic fail the Christmas lights no longer seem to work, so it’s a dash to the shops after work tonight as I cannot bear to look at the naked tree standing in the corner!!
We did however have a terrific pavlova over the weekend and I think that it would make a fantastic sweet treat over the festive period…. who doesn’t love chewy meringue?? This would be great for anybody who is not a fan of Christmas pud, it has sweet spiced figs and delicious warming ginger cream and would makes a great centrepiece.
Pavlova
4 large free range eggs
200g golden caster sugar
1 tbsp. cornflour
Pinch of Sea salt
Ginger cream
400ml double cream
125g mascarpone
1 tbsp. stem ginger
1 ball of stem ginger, finely chopped
For the spiced figs
8 figs
1 knob of butter
1 tbsp. demerara sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. stem ginger syrup
2 star anise
½ orange, zest and juice
to serve- toasted flaked almonds
Method
1.Start by making the meringue, separate the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk until they form stiff peaks, then add the sugar a little at a time until it is completely incorporated, add the salt and cornflour and continue to whisk until the mixture is glossy.
