Introducing chef Victoria Rose’s Pavlova recipe.
This dessert recipe is part of our Best in Season Feast Series – a celebration of the 2022 delicious Produce Awards. Showcasing five recipes from five top Australian chefs, every creation in the series utilises ingredients from this year’s Award nominees.
Prep time 45 minutes (+ 3 hours cooking time)
Serves 8
Pavlova with Wattleseed Crème Patisserie, Cream and Poached Quince Ingredients
Pavlova
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 ¼ cups castor sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
Poached quince
125g sugar
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 cinnamon quill
1 star anise
500ml water
2 quince, peeled, cored and cut in wedges
Wattleseed crème patisserie
500g whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 teaspoon wattleseed
4 egg yolks
30g cornflour
115g castor sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
30g unsalted butter diced
500g pouring cream
2 teaspoons icing sugar
Pavlova with Wattleseed Crème Patisserie, Cream and Poached Quince Method
1. To make the poached quince, mix sugar, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon, anise and water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add quince to the poaching liquid and create a cartouche out of baking paper to cover. Bring to a slow simmer and poach gently for 2 hours, or until a bright red colour. Let the quince cool. Once cooled, remove quince and simmer liquid over low heat for 15 minutes or until reduced slightly into a syrup.
2. To make the pavlova, heat the oven to 150°C fan-forced. In the bowl of a KitchenAid KSM195 Stand Mixer, combine egg whites and a pinch of salt. Start beating at high speed using the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Gradually incorporate the sugar in 4 batches until the sugar is dissolved and the meringue has stiff glossy peaks. Remove the bowl of meringue from the machine, and fold through the cornflour and vinegar until just combined.
3. Lightly grease a large baking tray, then draw a 20cm diameter circle on a piece of baking paper, flip so the outline is on the underside and use to line the baking tray. Transfer the meringue onto the baking tray and use the circle as a guide to mould. Use an offset spatula to create swirls on the side and level the top. Place the tray in the oven and reduce heat to 130°C fan-forced. Bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and allow to cool completely without opening the door.
4. To make the crème patisserie, bring milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Add vanilla and wattleseed, remove from heat, cover with a lid and allow to steep for around 30 minutes. In the bowl of the KitchenAid KSM195 Stand Mixer, using the whisk attachment, whisk together egg yolks, cornflour, sugar and salt until fluffy and pale. Remove vanilla bean from infused milk (making sure to scrape beans into milk) and slowly pour warm milk into the egg mixture in a steady stream whilst whisking, until incorporated.
5. Return the mixture to the same saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula. Once it starts to bubble, continue to cook for another minute or so until thickened. Remove from heat, and whisk the butter into the milk mixture pastry cream until emulsified. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl, and cover with plastic wrap immediately so that it doesn’t form a skin. Refrigerate until cold.
6. Once the pastry cream is cold, remove from the refrigerator and whisk until smooth again.
7. Add the pouring cream into a clean bowl of the electric mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whisk until soft peaks form. Remove half of the whipped cream from the bowl and fold through the milk mixture to make the crème patisserie. Reserve for later.
8. Add the icing sugar to the remaining cream in the mixing bowl and whisk until combined to make chantilly cream. Set aside.
9. To assemble the pavlova, spoon the crème patisserie over the pavlova, followed by chantilly cream on top. Arrange quince on top and drizzle with the reserved quince syrup.
Best in Season Recipes
Discover more recipes from our Best in Season series. Utilising ingredients from the Produce Awards, each dish in the series has been created by a top Australian chef.
• Dorothy Lee’s Raw Vegetable Plate with Buttermilk Ricotta and Green Sauce
• Pasan Wijesena’s Sbagliato Negroni Mixed with Mistelle and Prosecco
• Tristan Rosier’s Native Spiced Porchetta with Bitter Leaf Salad, Citrus and Herbs
• Alex Prichard’s Blue Swimmer Crab with Bucatini, Tomato and Verbena Butter