members recipes

The Pavlova pie has been in the pie notebook for a little while, and was yet to inspire me to do anything further then a quick idea on a page. However this week when I got sent some secret family recipes by my mother, one of which was for pavlova I was suddenly fill of new idea\'s around the Pavlova pie. I have come up with two versions, a luxurious chocolate hazelnut pavlova pie and also a traditional kiwi inspired pie, the latter will need to wait until kiwifruit and strawberries are back in season!

Ingredients
1x Pie Shell, par-baked (28 x 5cm - I used chocolate sweet short pastry)



Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache

180ml Cream

200gm Dark Chocolate, in small pieces

60ml Frangelico

2tsp Gelatin/Agar, dissolved in boiling water



Cherry Filling

1/2 C Dried Cherries, soaked overnight in 1/4C Kirsch Liqueur

1/2 C Morello Cherries

1tsp Gelatin/Agar

1tsp Vanilla Essence



Pavlova

8 Egg Whites

12Tbs Castor Sugar

2tsp Vinegar

2Dsp Warm Water

140g Hazelnuts, roasted and crushed in mortar and pestle

Method
Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache
Heat cream gently until small bubbles appear on the outside of the pan, do not boil. Pour over chocolate pieces, Frangelico and gelatin/agar and whisk until melted. Chill.
When cool whip ganache for three minutes, until light and fluffy. Chill.

Cherry Filling
Put dried cherries and Kirsch into a small saucepan with morello cherries and 1/4C water, heat until liquid looks syrupy. Put gelatin/agar into a small bowl and tip out some cherry juice from the pan to dissolve gelatin/agar, tip back into pan with vanilla. Chill.

Pavlova
Beat egg whites till stiff (90sec) add vinegar and water, beat till mixed in. Add sugar 1Tbs at a time, beat for 2min. Fold in hazelnuts.

Tip Pavlova mix into par-baked pie shell, spread evenly leaving a hollow for the filling when cooked. Bake at 150C for 10min, then turn stove off completely for 1hr.
When cool spread Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache around the inside of the pavlova, leaving a pavlova border and a hollow for the Cherry Filling. Chill for 2hrs. Pour Cherry Filling into the centre of the pie. Chill.