Pavlova...

I made this Pavlova for Ryan's birthday last Saturday... as per request!

I used golden caster sugar for the meringue (5 egg whites, free-range, and 3 tbsp of sugar per egg-white), which gave us a wonderful chewy toffee-ish texture to the Pav base, but I opened the oven to peek as I wasn't working with a recipe, so it cracked - BUT, that's why you have cream, right?! Fill in those craters!

I softly whipped the cream, and combined with some Mascarpone, and a little vanilla paste and teensy bit of the custard that was left from making the icing for the poppy seed cake I also baked, just to add the slightest hint of sweet. I macerated the Summer fruits (just frozen ones I'm afraid) with some more golden caster and black pepper and mixed through the seeds of two passion fruit to enhance the fruit just before serving. It was really delicious and I am tempted to make (and EAT) another one this weekend...

A@a*r