Mother’s Day Pavlova

Mother’s Day is around the corner. Show your appreciation with a luscious pavlova topped with soft vanilla custard, sweet lemon balm pesto, sun-kissed strawberries and raspberries as well as spectacular spring blossom. I should work in copywriting, shouldn’t I?

Pavlova: Whisk 2 egg whites and 30 g caster sugar until white. Add 70 g caster sugar and 1 tsp white aceto balsamico and continue whisking until stiff. Add a couple of drops red liquid food coloring and mix lightly. You’ll want a marbling effect rather than a uniform pink color. Draw a big or several small circles on a parchment paper. Spoon out the merengue inside the circle creating a crater in the middle. Bake at 125°C for 45 to 60 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the merengue cool in the oven.

Custard: Mix 2 egg yolks, 200 ml heavy cream, 16 g vanilla sugar, 1/2 tbsp cornstarch in a sauce pan. On low heat, allow to thicken. Don’t boil, don’t even simmer, or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs. Transfer to a cold dish and allow to cool completely.

Pesto: Finely blend three handfuls of lemon balm leaves, 40 g roasted almonds, the juice of one lemon and 75 ml elderflower syrup until smooth, smooth, smooth. It’ll take forever, but it’s well worth the while.

Assembly: Top the merengue with custard and pesto and decorate with fresh strawberries and raspberries, carnation, geranium and daisy blossom as well as lemon balm leaves.

I created this dish on the occasion of the Food Blog Challenge by Foodblogs Schweiz.

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