Easter Lemon Pavlova

I love spring.  It is possibly my favourite time of year (although autumn is a very close second).  I just love the sunshine without it being too hot; I like that most of the bugs are still asleep; that there are daffodils and tulips and crocuses everywhere; the colours; and that all my favourite Easter chocolates are available to buy!  It just makes me so happy.

Okay, so spring in Scotland isn't entirely like that.  This last week we had several days where it alternated between sunshine and hail every 30 minutes.  We even got snow the other day.  Not really what you would expect at the end of April.  Well, that's not true.  Did you know it has snowed more times on Easter Monday than on Christmas Day in the UK?  So if Easter had fallen this week we would be continuing that trend.  However, it fell early this year (which made for a more bearable spring term at school) towards the end of March.  It was a lovely week.  Lots of sunshine, although there was the occasional early April shower.

As is becoming a bit of a tradition, the mother-in-law hosted an Easter lunch (which was also a last-time-we-see-you-before-we-go-on-holiday-for-10-days meal - they went away, not us).  I was in charge of dessert!  I love that.  I knew I wanted something light and happy looking.  I wanted to steer clear of chocolate cake because that is heavy and dark and not really suited to spring.  I wanted spring colours and flavours!  Lemon is definitely a spring flavour in my mind.  Spring colour too.  My sister had suggested a lemon drizzle cake (because that's her favourite sort of cake) but I ended up finding something I liked better: lemon pavlova.  It looked fancy, would be sweet and tangy and would be light...if I could do it.

Those of you that have stuck with this blog the last few years know that meringue is one of my nemeses when it comes to baking (ganache being the other).  I understand the principle of how it goes together and the cooking process but it has so often gone wrong.  I have been trying to practise it more.  Lack of this on the blog shows it is generally not very successful, though it is getting better.  I think I've got a handle on both Swiss and Italian meringue by now.  It's just been the French kind that still gives me trouble.  But I am nothing if not persistent.  I was going to give it a shot.  It was Mary Berry after all and there was a good chance she would not lead me astray.

And for the most part, this is true.  My meringue actually turned out really well.  It tasted AMAZING (sorry but I am going to boast about that because I don't get to say that about meringue too often).  It was crisp on the outside but so so soft and fluffy inside.  Dare I say, it was perfect?  The only thing that went wrong is that I broke a little bit of it when I was trying to see if it would come away from the paper (you can see the slightly collapsed side in the picture above).  I was beyond pleased.  Unfortunately, it does not mean I have finally mastered the elusive meringue.  Last week I tried making a meringue roulade and it collapsed on me, having clearly been undercooked and tasted like eggs. Bleh!

High off my successful meringue, I was hopeful going into the filling.  However, my luck started to run out here.  I ended up attempting it twice, and twice it did not turn out quite right.  For some reason, this lemon curd recipe would not thicken for me and I ended up with an awful lot.  And when I added it to my cream, everything just turned to liquid.  I tried firming it up in the fridge but to no avail.  In the end, I used what I had.  The meringue was reasonably well sealed so most of the filling stayed in.  It did set after an hour or so.  And it tasted great!  I was left with a fair bit of it though.  However, I realised it didn't need to go to waste as it was basically a custard ice cream mix so I threw it in the ice cream maker and the the Hubby has been happily devouring it since.

So despite a few hiccups, this turned out really well.  And it is DELICIOUS.  As I said, the meringue is crispy on the outside but beautifully soft inside.  The tangy lemon balances the sweet meringue perfectly and it is so easy to eat.  There were 5 of us at the meal and we ate the whole thing.  Yum yum!

Recipe - adapted from Mary Berry via BBC Food

Candied Lemon Peel

• 100g/3.5oz caster sugar, plus extra for covering
• Zest of 4 lemons cut into long strips

Meringue:

• 6 egg whites
• 350g/12oz caster sugar
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp cornflour

Lemon Curd Filling:

• 6 egg yolks
• 350g/12oz caster sugar
• Juice of 4 lemons
• 225g/8oz butter
• 450ml/0.75pints double cream

•  24 chocolate mini eggs

1. Make the candied peel first as it needs time to set.  Put 100ml/3.5fl.oz of water into a saucepan along with the caster sugar.
2. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. 
3. Add the strips of lemon zest to the pan and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture turns syrupy.
4. Drain the lemon zest and then lay out on a tray that has been lined with parchment and then coat in more sugar.  Leave to dry in a warm place for a couple of hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas Mark 3, lay a piece of baking parchment on a tray and draw a 25cm/10inch circle on it.
6. Put the egg whites into the bowl and whisk on the highest speed of a hand whisk or stand mixer until they are stiff.  Then add generous teaspoons of sugar until the mixture is stiff, shiny and stands in peaks.
7. Mix the vinegar and cornflour together until smooth and then stir it into the meringue.
8. Spread half of the mixture inside the circle you drew on the paper.  Put the rest in a piping bag fitted with a rose nozzle and pipe 8 nests around the edge of the circle.  Make sure there are no gaps in between or the filling could leak out later.
9. Put the meringue in the oven and turn down the heat to 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2.  Bake for 1.5-2 hours, or until the meringue comes easily away from the paper.  It will be a pale creamy colour and may crack a bit but don't worry.
10. Turn the oven off but leave the meringue inside to get cold.
11.  Meanwhile, make the lemon curd by putting the egg yolks, lemon juice and sugar into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and whisking.
12. Gradually add the butter, still whisking, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool (It will thicken more as it cools).
13.  Whisk the double cream into soft peaks then swirl the cooled lemon curd through it. (Try not to overmix it or it will turn runny).
14. Spoon the filling into the base of the meringue and into each of the meringue nests. (If you end up with more filling than you need, you can put the rest into an ice cream maker to make lemon ice cream).
15. Decorate by putting 3 mini eggs in each nest and then sprinkling the candied lemon on top.

Easter Nest Torte

This is something that I've been wanting to make since I got my Cadbury recipe book.  It just looked so cool and would be a little more challenging than my usual bakes.  I had to wait until Easter rolled around again though, since it is an Easter bake after all.  Then, as I've been back volunteering at Markinch Primary again I thought it would be nice to make it for the teachers there.  

The torte consists of a layer of chocolate cake topped with a layer of chocolate mousse,  surrounded by a collar of dark chocolate and then decorated with chopped milk chocolate and Mini Eggs to look like a nest.  The things I was most nervous about doing were the chocolate collar and the mousse.  I've never used gelatine before and the last time I tried to make a chocolate case, I couldn't remove the paper without them falling apart.  I did learn from my previous failure though and made sure that the chocolate was quite thick all along the length of the paper.  And it worked out perfectly.  I was very pleased.  The mousse also turned out to be no trouble at all.  I've had plenty of practice making custard and gelatine is surprisingly simple to use.  The only problem I had came from the fact that I didn't have a tin the right size and had to use a slightly smaller one.  This meant when I added the mousse, there was slightly too much for the width of the cake and the height of the collar.  But all things considered, that was quite good in terms of all the things that could have gone wrong.

The reaction I got to it was wonderful.  Everyone thought it looked amazing.  The mousse was deliciously creamy and smooth and the cake was very moist and chocolatey.  It did not last that long at all. 

And on a side note, today marks one year since I posted my first recipe on this blog.  Yay!

Recipe - adapted from Simply Cadbury's Chocolate

Cake:

•  75g/3oz self-raising flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 40g/1.5oz cocoa powder
• 125g/4oz unsalted butter
• 125g/4oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp orange juice
• 75g/3oz Cadbury's Bournville chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 23cm/9inch (or 20cm/8inch  like I used) round cake tin.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large bowl.
3. Add the butter, sugar and eggs and beat together until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level it out.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake has risen and the top is just firm.
6. Remove from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
7. Once cool, transfer to the plate you intend to serve it on and then drizzle with the orange juice.
8. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water.
9. Meanwhile, use a piece of string or a measuring tape to measure the circumference of the cake.
10. Cut out a strip of greaseproof paper which is 1cm/0.5inches longer than the length you measured and 6cm/2.5inches tall.
11. Coat the strip with the melted chocolate, covering it right up to one short and one long side.  Leave the additional 1cm/0.5inches free of chocolate and along the other long side shape a wavy pattern which is about 1.5cm/0.75inches from the top.
12. Allow to firm up slightly, so that the chocolate has thickened and is no longer runny.
13. Carefully place the strip around the cake, with the wavy shape at the top.  Make sure the base of the strip touches the plate and the two short ends match up.  Press against the cake to make sure there are no gaps between it and the chocolate collar or the filling will escape.
14. Chill in the fridge.

Mousse:

• 2 tsp gelatine
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 3 egg yolks
• 50g/2oz caster sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 300ml/10.5fl.oz milk 
• 200g/7oz Cadbury's Bournville chocolate
• 300ml/10.5fl.oz double or whipping cream

1. Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over it.  Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar, cornflour and a little of the milk.
3. Heat the remaining milk in a saucepan until it just reaches boiling point.
4. Slowly pour the milk over the egg yolk mixture and whisk together until well combined.
5. Put back into the saucepan and place over a gentle heat, stirring all the time until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon.  Do not allow it to boil or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.
6. Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the gelatine until it dissolves.
7. Break up the chocolate and add it to the custard.  Allow it to melt and then stir until smooth.
8. Turn into a bowl, cover with greaseproof paper and leave to cool until it starts to thicken. 
9. Whip the cream until you get soft peaks.
10. Remove the greaseproof paper from the chocolate mix and then fold the cream into it.
11. Pour the filling ontop of the cake and smooth out.
12. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours until it has set.

Decoration: 

• 150g/5oz Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate
• 40g/1.5oz Mini Eggs

1. Use a sharp knife to chop the chocolate into shards.
2. Remove the greaseproof paper carefully from around the cake's chocolate collar.
3. Place the chocolate shards around the edge of the top of the cake.
4. Cover the rest of the top of the cake with a pile of Mini Eggs.
5. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Easter Cupcakes

This Easter I made 48 vanilla cupcakes (see my recipe here), 36 with one decoration and 12 with another.  The first 36 were made last week and were a treat for the class my boyfriend's mum teaches at the local primary school.  She provided me with what she wanted to go on them and I baked and put them together.  They were not anything very fancy but they still looked good and the kids loved them.

As I said, the decoration for this was very simple.  It is essentially a ring of green icing, a Cadbury mini egg and a little bunny decoration from Poundland held down with a dab more green icing.  The bunny is not edible but apparently the kids spent the rest of the day playing with them.

The other 12 were a result of me wanting to take my usual Easter cupcakes one step further in terms of decoration.  Usually I just ice them with melted Cadbury's Dairy Milk (because I always try to use good quality chocolate since it makes a huge difference in taste) and put a couple of mini eggs on top.  They've always gone down well with everyone and are pretty much seasonal since I can only get mini eggs (or at least the Cadbury ones) first quarter of the year.

Anyway, when I was working at WH Smith I encountered a lot of baking magazines.  I've recently started to collect the Cake Decorating one that just came out, and I always sort of had my eye on Baked and Delicious.  The latter was not one we sold though, just one a customer had on order.  However, we did get the spring special in.  I saw it sitting in the same place we kept all the big collectable magazines.  I ummed and ahhed for about a week before I eventually caved and bought it.  The main draw being the lovely Easter themed silicone moulds, one of the shapes being for chicks, which is where the advancement idea came from.  If I already have eggs on my cakes, then why not a chick too?  And if I've got eggs and chicks, why not a nest as well?  And what makes a good nest?  Why, cornflake and chocolate crispy cakes of course!  So here they are, my lovely Easter nest cupcakes:

Admittedly, when making the cake mix I ended up with too much egg from the two I used (they were a bit big) so I had to add 2oz of everything else to balance it out (so 6oz sugar rather than the usual 4oz).  I still spread it out across 12 cakes though rather than making 18.  They obviously just came out a bit bigger than usual. They were really yummy!  Using good quality chocolate always makes crispy cakes taste so amazing so I recommend using your favourite chocolate for them.  And chocolate with vanilla cake is always scrummy. Decoration Recipe - for 12 cakes:   80g/3oz white chocolate Yellow tinting powder 200g/7oz milk chocolate 100g/3.5oz cornflakes 100g packet of Cadbury mini eggs Chick mould Rubber spatula Start by melting the white chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted add the yellow tinting powder and stir until you get an even colour through the chocolate.  Put into 12 chick moulds, using a toothpick to push the chocolate into any corners, then place in the fridge to set.  I only have 6 little moulds so I had to do mine in two batches.  When one was done I put them on a plate and left them in the fridge so they didn't soften. Now melt the milk chocolate. Measure out the cornflakes into a large bowl and add most of the melted chocolate.  I suggest keeping some aside to help fix things to the top of the cakes.  Mix in with the rubber spatula.  It may not look like enough but keep mixing and it will coat it all. When evenly coated build nests on top of the cakes.  Use the remaining melted chocolate to coat the top of the cakes. When putting on the cornflakes, I used two teaspoons to pick up a piece and place and push them together on the cake.  Just make a ring around the outside.  It's a bit fiddly and the crispies will slip about a bit but just persevere! When the nests are done, put two mini eggs in the nests, resting them against the nest if you can as the chocolate will hold them in place once it sets. Take the set chicks out the fridge and place in the nests too. Put cake in the fridge for about 10 minutes or until chocolate has set completely. And if you end up with spare nest mixture like I did, make crispy cakes!