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.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

As always, dear readers, the best laid plans go to waste.  I was determined to have a post every week to go along with baking something each week.  I don't know what happened this month.  I was worn out, sure but mainly I was a bit uninspired.  I bake better when I have a purpose.  Otherwise I just default to my faves.  No good for the blog though.  This bake came about during my first week of having no definite goal in mind.  I just wanted to make something.  The Hubby requested cake of some kind.  I did intend to just make use of things in my cupboard, but that got scrapped because I wanted to make something with lemons, meaning I had to go out and buy them.

I decided to make my own lemon curd, since I figured it was a good way to use the yolks from the eggs that were for the meringue.  I ended up with way more than I needed, even after halving the recipe so I've halved it again in the write-up. I also didn't read the whole recipe in the book and so ended up adding my lemon curd at a different time from the original.

There's not much more to say really.  The Hubby enjoyed them.  A subtle lemon sponge with a sharp burst of lemon curd in the middle, which cuts through the sweetness of the meringue.  A successful and delicious little bake. 

Recipe - makes 8


Lemon Curd Recipe - adapted from BBC Food

• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 50g/1.75oz caster sugar
• 25g/1oz butter
• 1 egg yolk

1. Put the zest, juice, sugar and butter into a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of gently simmering water.  Stir the mixture every once in a while until the butter has melted.
2. Lightly whisk the egg yolk and then stir into the lemon mixture.  Whisk until combined then allow to cook for 10-13 minutes.  Stir occasionally until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
3. Remove from heat and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.  Once cooled, cover and keep in the fridge until cakes are ready.

Cakes - adapted from Cupcake Heaven:

• 115/4oz butter
• 100g/3.5oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 115g/4oz self-raising flour
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons lemon curd

Meringue:

• 150g/5.5oz caster sugar
• 2 egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with 8 cupcake cases.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Sift in the flour and fold in before stirring in the lemon zest and juice.
5. Distribute the mixture evenly between the cases and then bake in the oven for about 17 minutes, or until the cakes are risen and springy.
6. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
7. Use an apple corer pushed 3/4 of the way through each cake to remove the centre, reserving part of the top of each.
8. Fill each core with lemon curd then replace the tops. 
9. Make the meringue by putting the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.
10. Whisk the ingredients together continuously for about 5 minutes until it becomes thick, glossy and stands in peaks.
11. Put the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.  Pipe swirls of meringue on top of each cake and then leave to set.  For soft meringue, leave for about 30 minutes.  For firmer meringue, leave for at least 3 hours.

Chocolate and Raspberry Roulade

Being a teacher is a hard job.  It's all over the news these last few months that there is a shortage of teachers here in the UK.  That's because it's been getting more and more stressful with too much being expected of us.  Most people think it's easy taking care of about 30 kids from different backgrounds for 6 hours a day.  Most people tell us we're lucky 'cause of all those holidays we get.  Thing is, we work far beyond what we're paid for.  Planning, assessing and developing lessons for a wide range of abilities takes a lot of time.  And we fit all that around staff/cluster meetings, attending CPD training, running clubs, etc.  I love my job.  I do.  But I only work 3 days a week and am not tied down to a single class.  I don't have to do a lot of this extra stuff but I'm only paid for the hours I'm in school.  All the time I spend planning outside of school, I'm not paid for that.

What's the point of this mini rant?  Well, it was the starting point for this bake.  The mother-in-law is also a teacher and she's been feeling very down lately.  This is a big deal because she LOVES her job and this is the first time I've seen her so despondent because of it.  So on our weekly dinner at her house we were both ranting about our job and trying to cheer ourselves up.  The hubby bought us both some chocolate when he went out for bread, which was nice.  However, I was telling the mother-in-law about the brownies I made for the Hubby to take to his friends and she was quite disappointed that there weren't any leftover to be brought down for her.  So I decided I would bake her something just for her.  As long as there was chocolate, she would be happy.

I didn't want to do brownies again (I like having something new I can talk about) so I went hunting for a nice chocolate-y thing that I could bake.  Good old Pinterest is where I decided a roulade would be the way to go.  I always need more practise with those things, particularly getting a nice, tight swirl.  The recipe I found was also perfect, not just because it was simple and chocolate-y, but also because there is NO FLOUR in it at all.  Both the in-laws are trying to cut down on how much wheat they eat so this was fantastic.  An indulgent treat with no wheat in it.  Just sugar, eggs and lots of good quality chocolate.  And just for a bit of extra pizazz, I added raspberries into the cream.

I love this recipe.  You get a good amount of mixture to make a nice thick roulade with.  The number of times I've done a roulade recipe and the sponge is so so thin that I end up doubling the recipe up is ridiculous.  This filled the tray perfectly.  It rose well, and then sank slightly after it came out the oven but Mary Berry said to expect that.  She also said not to worry if it cracks, which it did, since that is part of the charm.  

Oh my goodness is the sponge on this delicious!  I'm not a big fan of chocolate cake but this was amazing.  SO LIGHT!  Seriously.  The Hubby compared it to eating a cloud.  The mother-in-law agrees.  And then the raspberry cream just melts in with it in your mouth and mmmmm!  It was loved and promptly demolished.  It was a perfect pick-me-up.

Recipe - adapted from Mary Berry via BBC Food

Makes 1 standard size roulade

• 175g/6oz dark chocolate
• 6 large eggs
• 175g/6oz caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 300ml/10fl.oz double cream
• 125g/4.5oz fresh raspberries
• Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 33x23cm / 13x9inch swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of just simmering water, making sure that the bowl is not touching the water.  Once melted, set aside to cool.
3. Separate the eggs between two large bowls.  Whisk the whites until they are stiffed peaked but not dry.
4. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk for a few minutes until it is thick, pale and creamy.
5. Pour the cooled chocolate into the sugar and yolk mix and fold in gently until well combined.
6. Add two spoonfuls of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and carefully stir in to loosen the mixture before folding in the remaining egg whites with a large metal spoon.  Be careful not to squash out the air.
7. Sift the cocoa powder in and lightly fold.
8. Pour mixture into the prepared tin and move the tin around gently until the mixture reaches all the corners and is level.
9. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the roulade is risen and feels firm and slightly crisp to the touch.  Remove from the oven and leave in the tin until it has gone cold.
10. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape.  Cut the raspberries into quarters and fold into the cream.
11. Lay out a piece of greaseproof paper on a work surface and dust with icing sugar.  Turn the cooled roulade out onto the paper.  Its lining paper should be on top so you can peel it off.
12. Leaving a border of about 2cm all the way around the edge, spread the whipped cream evenly over the roulade.
13. Make a cut along one of the short edges that goes about halfway through the sponge.  Roll the cut edge over tightly to start the roll and then use the greaseproof paper to help continue a tight roll.  
14. Finish with the join underneath and place on a plate.  Dust with icing sugar.