Blackberry and Meyer Lemon Pavlovas

Meringue ingredients:

6 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups of caster sugar

1 tablespoon of cornstarch, sifted

1 teaspoon of white vinegar

1 pinch of salt

Blackberry-Meyer lemon topping ingredients:

12 ounces of blackberries

1 pint of heavy whipping cream, cold

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of water

1 Meyer lemon, zested and 1 tablespoon of its juice

a small handful of chopped lightly toasted unsalted pistachios

Start by beating the egg whites in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on low speed until the whites become bubbly frothy. Add vinegar and salt. Turn to medium speed until soft peaks form. Soft peaks form when the egg whites look like white foam and the whisk starts to form a trail (like the picture below on the left). Turn to medium high speed and slowly add the caster sugar in a little at a time, allowing the sugar to incorporate before each addition. When all sugar is added, turn the speed on high and whip until the egg whites form hard peaks (like the picture below on the right) and the sugar is dissolved, about 3-4 minutes. You can check this by rubbing a bit of the meringue between your fingers– you should not be able to feel any grit. Add the sifted cornstarch and whisk on high speed for a couple more minutes until it is fully incorporated.

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Spoon large disks of the meringues evenly onto the baking sheet. There should be enough meringue for 6. Bake for 1 hour with the rack positioned in the middle. Turn off the heat and crack the oven open a few inches. Allow to cool to room temperature.

To make the blackberry sauce, heat 1/3 of the blackberries, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes until syrupy. Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. You can also mash with a potato masher for a chunkier sauce.

To make the whip cream, pour a pint of chilled heavy cream in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Whisk on medium high speed just until medium peaks form. Be careful not to overwhisk!

Carefully remove the meringues off the parchment paper. Lay one meringue on the bottom, spoon whip cream over it and place another meringue over it and dollop more whip cream on top.

Drizzle the blackberry sauce over the pavlovas and top with fresh blackberries.

Sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Dig in with a spoon . . .And enjoy!