Recipe: Alex’s Christmas Pavlova

Despite making one every year, I’m not a fan of Christmas pudding, so I’m going to be cooking Social Pantry’s signature Pavlova for everyone to enjoy. I’ll make the meringue three days before Christmas and store it in an airtight container, so on the day I only need to whip some cream and decorate it.

The Social Pantry Christmas Pavlova is the showstopper you need to indulge in after a well deserved Christmas feast!

Makes 1 very large pavlova

210g egg whites
350g caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp cocoa powder

200g dark chocolate (70%)
600ml double cream or 300ml double cream and 300ml crème fraiche
2 tsp icing sugar
1 punnet fresh blackberries
4 fresh figs
25g cocoa nibs or grated chocolate

Mixer (or you can do it by hand, if you don’t have one) 
2 flat trays 
Baking parchment 
Bowl
Piping bag 
Sieve 
Bain-marie (or a bowl and a pan of water)

• Place the egg whites in a clean mixer bowl. You can do this by hand but it is quicker and easier with a mixer.
• Whisk on medium speed until you achieve medium-stiff peaks. The trick is to build up lots of small bubbles slowly, as this will create a more stable meringue.
• Once the egg white reaches this stage, slowly add in the caster sugar 1 tbsp at a time, plus the cornflour and white wine vinegar.
• Once all the sugar has been added, continue whisking on a low speed until the sugar has dissolved. You can test this by rubbing meringue between your fingers. When all the sugar has dissolved, it should feel completely smooth. Add 1 tsp warm water to help this process along.
• Meanwhile, prepare your trays. Line 2 flat trays with baking parchment, use a bowl or plate as a circle to draw around to give a guide for the piping of the meringue.
• Fill a piping bag with the meringue and divide the mixture between the trays.
• Using a sieve, lightly dust the top of the meringue with a little cocoa powder.
• For the best results, bake overnight at 90C.
• Once cooked, allow to cool completely. To serve, gently melt the chocolate over a bain-marie (a bowl over a pan of water), then set aside to cool a little.
• Lightly whip the double cream and icing sugar together, cut half the blackberries in half lengthways and keep the other whole and cut the figs into quarters.
• Layer up the two meringues with the whipped cream, blackberries, cocoa nibs and top with the figs. Drizzle the dark chocolate over the whole thing and serve!

• Make a hollandaise for Christmas morning to serve with poached eggs and smoked trout.
• Use the egg yolks to enrich your sausage meat stuffing on Christmas Day.
• Make a boozy custard for the Christmas pudding, make in advance and serve warm.
• Add truffle oil to a mayonnaise recipe for indulgent boxing day turkey sandwiches.
• Cure the individual egg yolks in salt and sugar for 4 days, once cured and dried out, egg yolks can keep for 1 month in an airtight container. Grate over pasta, risotto and creamy fish dishes.

Please do let us know how you get on! Tag us on Instagram @social_pantry