Another classic dish for the Christmas season, but we’ve changed the game and made it into a towering Christmas tree. Make your discs days in advance, so it’s easy to pop together just before you are ready to serve. I love the addition of rosemary to garnish but you can really let your imagination go wild.
Ingredients
Pavlova Discs
200g egg whites
400g caster sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon cornflour
Filling
500ml cream
100ml Can’t Catch Me gingerbread syrup
½ jar Sugar Daddy dulce de leche
100g gingerbread cookies, crushed
To garnish
Mini gingerbread people
Rosemary tips
Icing sugar
Directions
Bring a pot of water to the boil.
For the pavlova discs, place the egg whites and sugar in a metal or glass bowl that is bigger than the pot.
Sit the bowl on top of the pot of boiling water and stir constantly until the top starts to foam (the sugar should have dissolved by now too).
Transfer the egg white mixture to a stand mixer, or use electric beaters, and whisk until the mixture is thick, glossy and cool. Beat in the vinegar and cornflour.
Preheat the oven to 110ºC regular bake.
Use a ¼ teaspoon dab of meringue in each corner of 3 trays to stick a piece of baking paper to each tray.
On one tray, put 1 heaped tablespoon of meringue on one side of the paper and mould it so it has a tip like the top of a soft-serve ice cream.
Put 3 heaped tablespoons of meringue on the other side of the paper and smooth it out with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. It should be round and about 2cm high.
Repeat this process on the other two trays, making 4 more circles (so you have 6 in total) and adding an extra 2 tablespoons of mix in each circle. The height should be the same on each circle and only the diameter gets bigger.
Bake for 45 minutes.
For the filling, put the cream and syrup into a bowl and whip together. Add more syrup to taste.
Layer up the ‘tree’, starting with the biggest pav base, followed by cream, Sugar Daddy caramel and crushed gingerbread cookies and repeat until you have the smallest meringue left at the top.
Decorate with mini gingerbread people, rosemary tips and a good sprinkle of icing sugar.
