Pavlova with Maple-Plum Compote

This dessert uses very few ingredients and can be prepared in a short amount of time. The only long part is the baking of the Pavlova. It is the perfect spring or summer dessert and will definitely impress any guests attending your fabulous dinner party.

For this dessert, I used golden plums because I loved how sunny and bright they looked. You can also use purple plums or even apricots or peaches for the compote.

Begin by separating your eggs. For this dish, we will only be using the egg whites, so you can put the egg yolks aside for another baking project.

Add in the cream of tartar and whip the egg whites with a handheld beater until stiff peaks form. Slowly add in the sugar and the vanilla and mix until your egg whites are glossy.

I prefer using superfine sugar for this as it keeps the egg whites nice and fluffy and smooth. I do not often have superfine sugar in the cupboard, so what I tend to do is take regular granulated sugar and pulse it through my blender until fine. If you do not want to go through the process of doing this, using granulated sugar will work as well.

Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop your egg whites onto the sheet. You can either make one large mound with it, or make individual servings. I used a piping bag and a large closed star piping tip to create little egg white 'nests' that will then hold the toppings once baked.

Preheat your oven to 275F.

Place your baking sheet onto the center rack and bake for 40mins-1h15mins (depending on the size you made your pavlovas). Check them every once in a while, you want the pavlovas to feel crisp on the outside but not burn them. Once they start to harden, turn the oven temperature off and let the pavlovas sit in the oven as it cools down (another 30 minutes or so). In the meantime, prepare your plum compote.

To prepare the compote it is quite simple. Just cut up your plums into bite sized pieces, place them into a small saucepan, add the maple syrup, cinnamon and water and heat over medium-high heat until the plums start to soften (8-10 minutes). Stir every once in a while. As the plums start to soften, use your stirring spoon to press down on them to make them into a thick jam like consistency. Remove your compote from the heat and let cool. Cut up the mint leaves and stir half into the compote (approx. 1/8 cup).

While both the pavolvas and compote are cooling, prepare the whipped cream and other toppings.

For the whipped cream, simply add the whipping cream to a bowl and mix with your handmixer until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and mix for another 30 seconds until everything is well incorporated.

I love adding citrus to my pavlova, so I decided to supreme an orange (supreming is when you remove the membrane from around the fruit just leaving a wedge of juicy bulbs). I also added some fresh strawberry slices for color and sweetness.

Once all the individual pieces have cooled and been prepared and you are ready to serve, it is time to put it all together. Scoop or pipe some of the whipped cream into your prepared pavlova nests. Then spoon some of the plum compote over top. Finish by adding some fresh orange and strawberry slices and garnish with any leftover mint leaves.

I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as I do.

I also hope that you play around with the toppings! It is hard to go wrong.

Bon apetit!