Ingredients
Equipment
Method
French Meringue
- Draw 4 disks or other shapes on parchment (2 per cake) 7-inch/18 cm. Flip parchment onto oiled baking tray. Grease parchment as well using oil or cooking spray. Wipe off excess fat with paper towels. Make some fairy fingers with remaining meringue.
- Baked meringue disks shall be brushed with melted cocoa butter or coconut butter (do it over warm meringue). The fat in cocoa butter forms a protective barrier over skin to hold in moisture.
Strawberry Jelly
- Soak gelatin sheets in cold water to soften, and drain. Place strawberries and sugar over a bain-marie, cover with plastic wrap tight and let sweat for a couple of hours. Turn heat off and leave it to sit overnight.
- Drain and save the rendered juice. Save solids for snacks. Use 200g strawberry juice ''jus de fraise'' for the recipe. Heat up to 140ºF/60ºC and add gelatin. Pour juice into a small tray lined with plastic wrap or freezer bag and freeze to set.
- Flip over a freezer bag and cut into desired shapes. Keep jelly frozen until ready to use.
Red Fruit Marmalade Insert
- Soak gelatin sheets in cold water to soften, and drain. In a saucepan, heat up raspberry puree with water. Mix sugar and pectin, and add it to the hot fruit puree.
- Add chopped strawberries, and bring to a boil. Add lemon juice and zest. Remove from the heat, and stir in gelatin.
- For the inserts, prepare 2 cake rings. Seal each bottom cake ring with a stretched sheet of plastic wrap and make two 0.8 inch/2cm thick red fruit marmalade insert and freeze.
Yuzu Crémeux
- Yuzu is a very aromatic citrus fruit of East Asian origin. In a saucepan, mix sugar with egg yolks, eggs, and starch. Add the Yuzu and lemon juice and bring to a boil whisking constantly.
- Remove from the heat and transfer mixture to a narrow container – let cool for 10 minutes, add butter and smooth out with an immersion blender.
- Top the frozen strawberry marmalade inserts with the Yuzu crémeux and freeze. De-mold and keep frozen.
Vanilla Mascarpone Chantilly
- Whip all ingredients together on medium-high speed until medium firm peaks form.
Montage
- Make up 2 cake boards slightly larger than the cake with a piece of carton board. Add a dollop of Chantilly and place the first meringue disk onto it. Pipe out a layer of Chantilly.
- Top with the frozen red fruit marmalade-yuzu insert.
- Add more Chantilly and cover with some chopped strawberries. Spread a thin layer of Chantilly on the second meringue and flip (flat surface up).
- Cover the sides of the cake with Chantilly, and even out with an offset spatula and give a neat finish to the top as well.
- Decorate cake with Chantilly rosettes and arrange fairy fingers on cake sides.
- Arrange strawberries harmoniously on cake (brush fruits with mirror neutral glaze if desired). Add jelly and edible flowers such as lemon thyme flowers.
Storage
- Refrigerate pavlova 2 hours before serving. Pavlova should be eaten within 24 hours. Avoid freezing temperature.
